Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.) is one of the oldest cultivated cereal grain and the most economically important species of the Setaria genus. Foxtail millet is usually grown for its grain (see the Foxtail millet grain datasheet) but it is also cultivated as a fodder plant.

Foxtail millet is an erect annual grass, fast-growing, leafy and tufted, 90-220 cm high. It has a dense root system of thin adventitious roots. Its stems are erect, slender and tiller from the base. The leaves are alternate with lanceolate and serrated blades, 15-50 cm long and 0.5-4 cm broad. The inflorescence is an erect or pendulous spike-like bristly panicle, 5-30 cm long x 1-5 cm wide, bearing between 6 and 12 spikelets