Fodder is food for livestock like cattle, horses, and sheep. Farmers provide fodder to their animals, especially during winter when fresh grass isn't available. Common types of fodder include hay, corn stalks, and dried grasses stored in barns.

It carries a sense of something basic and plentiful rather than fancy or carefully prepared. You're feeding animals what they need to survive and stay healthy, not serving them a gourmet meal.

When you hear fodder, think of something plentiful that gets fed into a system, whether that's hay going to animals or material being used for another purpose.