USDA NASS (June 2024) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, p. 32.
For Animal Feed Usage, sources are noted below with calculations relying primarily on USDA data. Figures are based on percent of “disappearance” – the utilization of a crop or product, e.g., food, industrial use, exports. [USDA NASS (1999) Understanding USDA Crop Forecasts, No. 1554, p. 9]
Cottonseed and cottonseed meal are popular feeds for cattle and dairy producers.[1-3] About 19% of the value of cotton production is in cottonseed.[4]
We do not have current data on the share of cottonseed used for animal feed. A broad estimate is that about 5-10% of the total value of cotton production goes to animal feed, though it is not included in our final tallies of feed crop usage.[5,6]
Stewart, L., & Rossi, J. (2010). Using cotton byproducts in beef cattle diets, Univ. of Georgia Extension, Bulletin 1311. [“Cottonseed, cottonseed meal and cottonseed hulls are widely used as feed ingredients in beef cattle diets.”]
Ely, L. O., & Guthrie, L. D. (2008). Feeding whole cottonseed to dairy cows and replacements, Univ. of Georgia Extension, Special Bulletin 59. [“Whole cottonseed is a popular feed for dairy producers.”]
Heather Thomas (2023) Cottonseed an option for feeding cattle: Interest renewed among beef producers in highly nutritious byproduct of the cotton industry. Farm Progress. https://www.farmprogress.com/livestock/cottonseed-an-option-for-feeding-cattle
USDA NASS (2024) Crop Values 2023 Summary, ISSN: 1949-0372, pp. 29-30. [Cottonseed value = $870,599,000; Cotton value = $4,635,173,000. Share of cottonseed == 18.8%]
USDA NASS (2021) Agricultural Statistics 2021, table 1-72, p. I-40. https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/j3860694x/gq67m183k/np194m208/2021_Agricultural_Statistics_Book.pdf [In 2019, total cottonseed weight was 5,945 million tons and total disappearance for commercial feed was 2,258 million tons of cottonseed cake or meal, or about 38% of the volume of cottonseed.]
Cotton Incorporated, Whole Cottonseed – A Super Feed for Dairy Cows. https://www.cottoninc.com/cotton-production/ag-research/cottonseed/whole-cottonseed-a-super-feed-for-dairy-cows/ [“In fact, more than 50% of the annual supply of whole cottonseed is consumed by dairy cattle.” This would more-or-less equal 10% of the cotton crop value (19% x 50%), which when added to meal usage could be well above 10%. While acknowledging the large amount of acreage and likely significant value of feed, we estimate the usage as “minor” and do not include in our total feed crop calculations due to lack of firm data.]
In 2023, about 72% of sorghum went to animal feed. It is the second largest grain crop used for animal feed, after corn.
Feed and residual use – was ~19% of total disappearance.[1]
Exports – were ~74% of total disappearance. The top 3 markets for sorghum constituted more than 99% of total exports.[2] Those 3 markets used roughly 63% of its sorghum as feed, making exported sorghum for feed ~47% of total disappearance.[3]
Silage – made up ~6% of sorghum usage. This figure is based on the percentage of acres of silage harvested to the total acres harvested for both silage and grain.[4] The USDA tallies sorghum silage separately from grain disappearance presumably since the end-product (tons of silage) is not comparable to bushels of sorghum.
USDA Economic Research Service, Feed Grains Yearbook Tables, table 5 (updated 9/12/24): Sorghum: Supply and disappearance, MY 2023-24. [feed and residual use = 60 million bushels / total disappearance of 317 million bushels = 18.93%]
Feed Grains Yearbook Tables, table 22: U.S. corn and sorghum exports by selected destinations, MY 2023-2024. [top 3 import markets = 2,747,000 bushels / total exports = 2,770,000 bushels == 99.15% for top 3 markets]
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Production, Supply and Distribution (PS&D) database, reporting period January 2024. [Analysis: a) Graphical queries for top 3 markets, calculating sorghum “feed waste domestic consumption” as a percentage of sorghum “total domestic consumption. 2023-2024. b) Weighting the percentage of feed waste domestic consumption by country]
USDA NASS (June 2024) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, Crop Area Planted and Harvested, Yield and Production in Domestic Units – United States: 2023, p. 32. [Sorghum harvested for silage = 384,000 acres / Sorghum acres harvested for grain (6,115,000) plus harvested for silage (384,000) = 6,499,000 acres == 5.91%]
In 2023, sorghum was planted on 7.2 million acres and harvested for grain on ~85% of that area (6.1 million acres). About 5% of planted acres were harvested for sorghum silage (384,000 acres).[1]
Much of the unharvested acreage was likely used to graze livestock directly, though the USDA does not estimate that usage, and we do not include it in our tallies.[2,3]
USDA NASS (June 2024) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, Crop Area Planted and Harvested, Yield and Production in Domestic Units – United States: 2023, p. 32. [Harvested silage includes the plant with the grain.]
Dahlke, G. R. (2022). Swath Grazing Forage Sorghum and Pearl Millet Observations Regarding Quality and Utilization as Winter Feed. Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 2021, 17(1):15553.
Feedipedia, Animal feed resources information system, Sorghum forage. [“Forage sorghum can stand heavy grazing. Rotational grazing is the safest way of utilizing the pasture to provide maximum nutrition.”]
In 2023, about 30% of barley was used for animal feed.[1] Barley grain is primarily used as a protein source in beef cattle diets.[2]
USDA Economic Research Service, Feed Grains Yearbook Tables, table 6 (updated 9/12/24): Barley: Supply and disappearance, MY 2023-2024. [Feed & residual = 56 million bushels / total disappearance = 186 million bushels == 30.1%. The calculations do not consider imports; since we are not calculating final weights, but rather percentages of usage, we assume that imports have similar usage patterns to domestic production. Barley imports are about 5% of total supply.]
North Dakota State Univ. (2017) Barley Grain and Forage for Beef Cattle, AS 1609. https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/sites/default/files/2022-07/as1609.pdf
In 2023, barley grain was planted on 3.1 million acres and harvested on 2.6 million acres.[1] It is also used as pasture, hay, or silage for animal feed, which may account for much of the 546,000 unharvested acres.[2,3]
USDA NASS (June 2024) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, Crop Area Planted and Harvested, Yield and Production in Domestic Units – United States: 2023, p. 32.
Oregon State Univ. Forage Information System (2023) Barley x Elyhordeum Barley Mansf. ex Zizin & Petrowa. https://forages.oregonstate.edu/forages/barley# [“Barley is an annual cereal, a cool-season grass species used for both grain and forage including pasture, hay, silage, and after-grain-harvest straw.”]
North Dakota State Univ. (2017) Barley Grain and Forage for Beef Cattle. https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/sites/default/files/2022-07/as1609.pdf
In 2023, oats fed to animals made up ~36% of total usage.[1] The major use of this grain is in the equine market, though it is also used in livestock feed.[2] Feeding programs for younger cattle often include oats as they have a lower potential for causing bloat and other digestive issues.[3,4] Since we have no data specifically on farmed animal feed usage, we are not including oats in final tallies of total usage for animal feed.
USDA Economic Research Service, Feed Grains Yearbook Tables, table 7: Oats: Supply and disappearance, MY 2023-2024. [Feed & residual = 47 million bushels / domestic disappearance = 130 million bushels == 36.2%]
Dr. Greg Lardy, USDA (2006) Feeding Value of Oats in Livestock Diets, NDSU Animal and Range Sciences.
Penn State Extensions (2022) Feeding Small Grains to Beef Cattle. https://extension.psu.edu/feeding-small-grains-to-beef-cattle
Beef-Cattle Extension (2019) Can I use oats as a feed for beef cattle? https://beef-cattle.extension.org/can-i-use-oats-as-a-feed-for-beef-cattle/
In 2023, oats were planted on 2.6 million acres and harvested as grain on 831,000 acres, or ~33% of acres planted.[1]
Much of the unharvested acres (~67%) were likely used as forage or hay.[2,3]
USDA NASS (June 2024) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, Crop Area Planted and Harvested, Yield and Production in Domestic Units – United States: 2022, p. 32.
USDA (2006) Illinois Grazing Manual Fact Sheet: Oats for Fall/Spring Grazing. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/OatsForFall-SpringGrazing.pdf
Oklahoma State Univ Extension (2017) Spring-Planted Oat for Grazing or Hay Production, https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/spring-planted-oat-for-grazing-or-hay-production.html
In 2023, about 29% of canola seed by value went to animal feed.
Most canola seed is used for crush (~89%).[1] From the crush the accepted ratio of oil to meal by weight is about 45% oil and 55% meal.[2,3] However, in 2023 the value of the meal was ~32% of the combined value of oil and meal.[4] Almost all canola meal goes to animal feed.[5]
Using the percentage going to crush (~89%) times the relative value of canola meal (~32%) times the amount going to animal feed (100%) points to ~29% of canola seed going to animal feed.
USDA Economic Research Service, Oil Crops Yearbook, Canola Seed and Canola Seed Products, table 25 (updated 3/24/24). [Canola seed used for crush = 4,530,000 lbs. / total disappearance = 5,063,000 lbs. == 89.47%. Although the data was updated in March of 2024, it is footnoted as “Forecast.” The calculations do not consider imports; since we are not calculating final weights, but rather percentages of usage, we assume that imports have similar usage patterns to domestic production. Canola seed imports are ~14% of total supply.]
U.S. Canola Association, Seed, Oil and Meal, https://www.uscanola.com/crop-production/seed-meal-and-oil/ [Each seed contains about 45 percent oil…Canola meal is one of the most widely used protein sources in feed for livestock, poultry and fish.”]
Feedipedia, Rapeseed meal, https://www.feedipedia.org/node/52 [“Rapeseeds contain 40-45% oil and yield about 55-60% oil meal when fully extracted by crushing followed by solvent extraction.”
Oil Crops Yearbook, Canola Seed and Canola Seed Products, table 26 and table 27. [Canola meal production = 2,656 billion pounds * .18 cents per pound ($360 per ton). Canola Oil Production = 1,832 billion pounds * .55 cents per pound. $.48B/ $1.49B = 32%.]
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Production, Supply and Distribution (PS&D) database, reporting period January 2024, for year 2023-24. [Graphical query for rapeseed meal, United States, Feed Waste domestic consumption is equal to total domestic consumption (4,743,000 metric tons)]
In 2023, canola was planted on 2.34 million acres and harvested for canola seed on 2.32 million acres, or ~99% of acres planted.[1]
USDA NASS (June 2024) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, Crop Area Planted and Harvested, Yield and Production in Domestic Units – United States: 2023, p. 32.
In 2023, feed and residual use for rye as a grain (the 11th largest crop by acres planted was ~26% of total disappearance.[1] The vast majority of planted rye is unharvested (~86% of planted acres).[2] Many of these unharvested acres are used as pasture for grazing, with some rye grasses cultivated primarily for pasture.[3,4]
About 36% of sunflower seeds (the 12th largest crop) is used for crush.[5] The crush generates both oil and coproduct sunflowerseed meal. The meal goes to animal feed.[6]
Many other crops have common uses as animal feed, including peanuts, flaxseed, millet, and others.[7,8]
USDA, Wheat Data-Recent, table 12 (updated 9/13/24): Rye: supply and disappearance, MY 2023-24. [Feed & residual = 6.43 million bushels / total disappearance = 24.96 million bushels == 25.76%]
Wheat Data-Recent, table 2, Rye: planted acreage, production, yield, MY 2023-24. [planted acreage 2,293,000 acres. Harvested acres = 322,000, accounting for ~14% of planted acres]
Mississippi State Univ. Extensions (2020) Annual Ryegrass—Staple for Winter Grazing in the South, Forage News. https://extension.msstate.edu/newsletters/forage-news/2020/annual-ryegrass%E2%80%94staple-for-winter-grazing-the-south
Yoana Newman, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Ryegrasses for Pastures, Crops and Soils. https://cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu/articles/ryegrasses-for-pastures/
USDA Economic Research Service, Oil Crops Yearbook, Sunflowerseed: U.S. supply, disappearance, and price, 2023-2024, table 22 (updated 3/25/24). [Sunflower seed used for crush = 937 million lbs. / total disappearance of 2,628 million lbs. == 35.65%. Although the data was updated in March of 2024, it is footnoted as “Forecast.”]
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Production, Supply and Distribution (PS&D) database, reporting period January 2024, for year 2023. [Graphical query for sunflowerseed meal, United States, Feed Waste domestic consumption is equal to total domestic consumption (261,000 metric tons)]
USDA NASS (2021) Agricultural Statistics 2021, table I-72, p. I-40.
Rob Myers (2018) Growing Millets for Grain, Forage or Cover Crop Use, University of Missouri Extension.