Hay

Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants cut, dried, and stored as livestock fodder. Drying preserves forage by reducing moisture enough to limit spoilage.

Haymaking: The process of cutting forage, drying it, and storing it as hay. Haymaking turns standing plants into stored fodder through a sequence of harvest and preservation steps.
Forage: Plant material eaten by grazing animals or harvested as livestock feed. Hay is forage preserved for feeding after it has been cut and dried.
Grass: A plant in the family Poaceae, characterized by narrow leaves and jointed stems. Many hay crops are grasses cut before they become too mature and fibrous.
Silage: Moist forage preserved by fermentation in airtight storage. Silage retains more moisture and relies on fermentation, unlike dried hay.
Curing (agriculture): The field drying of harvested crops before storage or processing. Curing lowers hay’s moisture before it is baled or stacked.
Cattle feeding: The provision of feed to cattle to meet their nutritional needs. Hay supplies roughage when pasture is unavailable or insufficient.
Legume: A plant in the family Fabaceae, whose fruits develop in pods. Legumes such as alfalfa and clover are common hay crops with distinctive nutrient profiles.
Straw: The dry stems left after cereal grains have been harvested. Straw is a crop residue with much lower feed value than leafy hay.
Baling: The compression of loose agricultural material into bound, transportable packages. Baling makes dried hay easier to handle, move, and store.
Horse nutrition: The study and practice of meeting horses’ dietary needs through appropriate feed and water. Hay commonly provides horses’ main source of forage and fiber.

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Livestock grazingCompared with: It supplies conserved plant feed when animals cannot graze sufficient fresh vegetation.