Forages and pastures:

• are the foundation and key component of any sustainable livestock production system or animal that has a forage based diet.
• are an abundant source of nutrients
• are essential for animal performance
• include grazing, hay, haylage and silage.
• palatability, acceptability and intake are important to know
• chemical, physical, and structural characteristics determine the quality of forage.
• poorly managed result in anti-quality factors being more prevalent
• characteristics affect their quality and need to be determined and measured.
• irrigated with polluted water or grown in polluted soils, affect the quality of forages
• The African Forage Quality Reference Laboratory’s Forage Quality Evaluation Programme is building a database of all forages grown for and ingested by herbivores