Cereal stovers are widely used for feeding ruminant livestock, and in semi-arid areas sorghum stover may be an important part of livestock diets during the dry season, helping to maintain condition and increase survival. Bird-resistant varieties of sorghum have been bred for use in semi-arid zones to increase yields of grain in areas most affected by birds. However, the same properties that confer bird-resistance, act as anti-nutritive factors for ruminant livestock, and may therefore lower the value of sorghum stover as livestock fodder. Strategies involving feeding of excess stover enables animals to preferentially select leaf material rather than stem, which has greater concentrations of anti-nutritive factors.