Since the earliest records of man his domestic animals have secured a large proportion of their forage from pastures. Before crops were planted and harvested by man the wild grasses furnished the chief food for numerous kinds of animals, and the cutting and curing of hay came as a later development to supplement natural pasturage in seasons of scarcity.
Harris, F. S., "Circular No. 15 - Pastures and Pasture Grasses for Utah" (1913). UAES Circulars. Paper 11.