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Cereal and Forage Crops an Introduction

© Don De Beyer

The next decision you will make is to decide what crops you will grow. For many farms you will be either growing or feeding a cereal or forage crop. I have therefore written this article as an introduction to these crops for the new farmer.

Cereal Crops
A cereal crop is obtained from the grass family of plants in which the grain or seed is harvested to utilize as feed. Several examples of a cereal crop are corn, wheat, barley and oats. These cereals are usually fed to livestock to increase the energy intake or to increase the energy density of a ration. This increase in energy consumption allows the animal to grow faster (as in the case of meat animals) or produce better (in the case of dairy cows). North America grows a tremendous amount of cereals each year. A large portion of which is used in livestock rations and the remainder utilized in human foods. In less developed countries the reverse is true.

As your primary goal is the harvest of the grain, the plant has been bred to produce an abundance of seeds. Once the seed is harvested the remainder of the plant is either discarded or utilized as a secondary crop. An example of a secondary crop is making bales of straw out of wheat stalks.

Forage Crops
A forage crop is a plant (except its roots) that is grown for feeding to livestock. Often these plants come from the grass family but not all forage crops are grasses. Several examples or forages are timothy grass, alfalfa, and forage turnips.

Forages are a "bulky" food having a higher fiber content and a lower energy content than a cereal. Thus they are good at filling up an animal and providing a maintenance ration. If you are trying to make the animal grow or produce better, you will need to supplement the ration with a cereal.

There are several common ways forages are harvested. A few examples are grazing, haying, green chopping and ensiling (silage). In the case of the first two the normal goal is have the plant harvested before it begins to go to seed. The last two can be harvested after going to seed (depending on the plant grown). The big advantage being that it will increase your energy content in the feed. An example is corn silage.

Grazing is by far the cheapest and easiest method of harvest. The animal does all the work.

Haying involves cutting the plant off just above the ground. Letting it dry. Then a machine is used to form round or square bales from the hay that are stored and fed to the livestock.