The terms ‘straw’ and ‘hay’ are often used interchangeably in the agricultural industry. While a hayride might mean a wagon full of straws during transport, it is not the same case in a garden. Getting confused between the two in such a scenario can often cause problems in the near future. Although both straw and hay are usually used for weed control in a garden, the results of each produce might be quite different from each other.
Hay is essentially a crop that is cultivated and harvested for feeding purposes. It is good for horses, cattle, and quite a few other farm animals. On the other hand, straw is mainly a byproduct of the grain crop. Wheat straw is the most common variant you can see.
How Can You Differentiate Between Both?
If both straws and hay have similar qualities, you must be wondering why you would need to know the difference between straw and hay. The main problem lies with hay. Hay is generally made up of a blend of quite a few plants in a field. Farmers will cut these and bale the plants in the field to later feed them to cows in their resting stage.
These dairy cows are known as dry cows. These kinds of cows are usually of low quality and have a low content of nutrients compared to other variants like Alfafa hay. Nevertheless, for dry cows, this is the best variant since they do not need any dense nutrition composition as they are not producing milk at the moment.
You usually do not know what plant combinations you get in a random bale of hay. Unless you need it for dry cows, you should refrain from buying such hay as it typically contains weed that you would not want on your property.
On the contrary, straws are of much more use in a garden. Mainly because of the competitiveness of grain crops like wheat, they usually hold back the growth of weeds. Farmers cultivating such grain crops also ensure the minimal growth of weeds as it helps them get higher yields. This is the main reason why straws come with less to no weed contamination.
However, that does not mean all kinds of straws are weed-free. There are obviously exceptions to this rule. Nevertheless, if you look in the right places, you can find 100% timothy or alfalfa strains which are weed-free variants. But you should remember that these strains can be quite expensive. In many cases, straws can be highly contaminated with weeds if the optimal conditions are not maintained.
This article mainly explains what you need to know before buying either of the two and how you can differentiate between both hay and straws. That being said, where you buy the products is also highly important. It is best if you choose a reputed company like Tomatobil. They have some of the best reviews in the market and can satisfy all your garden and agricultural needs.
