Silage is a type of fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation to the point of acidification. It can be fed to cattle, sheep, and other such ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ensilage, ensiling, or silaging. Silage is usually made from grass crops, including maize, sorghum, or other cereals, using the entire green plant.
Silage underneath plastic sheeting is held down by scrap tires. Concrete beneath the silage prevents fermented juice from leaching out.
Cattle eating silage
MB Trac rolling a silage heap or "clamp" in Victoria, Australia
Partially dried mown grass is formed into cylindrical bales in the field (above) and sealed in polywrap (below).
Fodder, also called provender, is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals, rather than that which they forage for themselves. Fodder includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and sprouted grains and legumes. Most animal feed is from plants, but some manufacturers add ingredients to processed feeds that are of animal origin.
A fodder factory set up by an individual farmer to produce customised cattle feed
Manual cutting of green fodder in Punjab.
Round hay bales
Newton of Cawdor stack of bales, sweet-smelling fodder stored for winter
