Greenfeed

fodder, plants that are consumed by agricultural animals in pastures or are mowed (green soiling).

The plants are usually used for fodder until they become hardened, that is, before flowering or not later than the beginning of flowering. During this time they contain 60–80 percent water, 2–6 percent crude protein, 0.2–2 percent fat, 6–20 percent nonnitrogenous extractable substances, 4–25 percent cellular tissues, and 2–7 percent ash. Young grass is rich in carotene and vitamins B, C, E, and K. One hundred kilograms of legume grass contains 15–20 feed units and 3–3.5 kg of assimilable protein, whereas cereal grass contains 20–25 feed units and 2.1–2.4 kg, respectively. All nutrients are in an easily assimilable form. Greenfeed is the major, cheapest feed for agricultural animals during the pasturing period. In the annual consumption of feed (in feed units), depending on the regions the rations for cattle include 20 to 50 percent greenfeed; for sheep, 30–80 percent; and for hogs, 25–40 percent. In areas of distant-pasture animal husbandry, the animals are put to grass nearly the year round. The daily requirement for greenfeed is 40–80 kg for cows, depending on live weight and productivity: 6–9 kg for sheep, £-12 kg for hogs, and 40–50 kg for workhorses. The main sources of greenfeed are natural pastures; cultivated pastures are widely used. The balanced supply of greenfeed to livestock is carried out by the organization of the greens conveyer, in which silage, hay, and vegetable-growing wastes are included in addition to pasture grass.