Have you ever tried to buy hay and ended up with straw instead?Though both straw and hay may look similar, they have completely different uses. Hay is high-quality animal feed, while straw is used for odd jobs around the farm.Though farmers can easily tell the difference between hay and straw, gardeners or hobby enthusiasts wishing to buy one may unknowingly end up with the other. Hay is made of high-quality grasses and legumes such as clover and alfalfa. Straw on the other hand is made from worthless dried-up stems which are left behind after a harvest. Both are dried and rolled up into bales, which are then sold for their respective purposes. Hay bales are more expensive than straw bales and are made in order to store animal feed, whereas straw bales largely serve as decoration. To learn more about the differences between straw and hay, keep reading!If you enjoyed this article, do check out our other pages on difference between donkey and mule and difference between leopard and jaguar.What are hay and straw?Hay is nutritious animal feed that is made by drying out different crops of legumes such as clover, alfalfa, and grasses like Timothy. Hay is often harvested before the plants make seeds and just before they start growing leaves. This ensures that the hay retains high levels of nutrition and is easy for livestock to digest, keeping them healthy. Hay is grown as perennial (throughout the year) crops and is usually grown on fields that are unable to grow high-quality grain for sale, making use of otherwise unproductive land. After the hay is dried, it is rolled up into hay bales and stored for feeding farm animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, and rabbits. Alfalfa hay is a type of high-quality hay, whereas poor-quality hay can have few straw-like properties.Straw on the other hand is made from the dried-up stems or grass which is left behind after the harvest of cash crops such as wheat, rice, barley, oats, and millets. Once the grains are harvested, the remaining low-quality stems account for around 50% of the total yield and can be used for making straw. Straw is much lighter in color as well as in weight than hay, and is usually used for non-feed related activities such as for bedding for animals such as cattle, goats, horses, and pigs. It is also used as compost in gardens, scattered among plants as a form of weed control, and made into bales for decoration, which can popularly be seen during the fall season. Straw is much cheaper than hay per bale, as it is much more abundantly available.Uses Of HayHay is dried out grass of different types which is used as fodder, mostly for farm animals. Dried grass of legumes such as alfalfa, clover, and orchardgrass all vary when it comes to nutrition, and different feed does well for different animals. Drying out the feed makes it easier to store as well as making it more durable, meaning it can be kept for longer periods of time. Though farm animals are allowed to graze freely in pastures most of the time or are fed grains, high-quality feed is useful during the winter season when pastures freeze over or when pasture growth is unable to keep up with livestock consumption.Though bales of hay can look light, beware as they are actually very heavy. Hay is compressed together and tied in order to make bales, and they are deceitful in appearance, with large bales of 4-6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) in diameter often weighing around 1200 lb (544.3 kg)! They are cut into square shapes as well in order to make them easier to store.The price of hay can vary greatly depending on the crops from which it is made, the size of the bale, and the area where it was cultivated from. It can also depend on the nutritional needs of animals, with feed for horses being comparatively more expensive than the feed for cows. Hay is made from a variety of dried grasses, and the less nutritional bales are used as feed for dry cows, cows which are currently not producing milk. Higher quality feed like alfalfa hay is given to milk-producing cows, as they require much more nutritious feed than those which are in their resting period.Hay should be kept dry as a must, and it is important to make sure that it stays dry while cutting, storing, and raking. It should be stored properly as if affected by rain its moisture content can increase and it may become moldy, which can cause a lot of heat-generating bacteria to grow which is a big fire hazard. Mold also spreads among hay quite easily, which is why dry storage is so important.The best type of hay to feed cattle is alfalfa and oat grass hay, whereas horses thrive well on Timothy and orchardgrass hay.Uses Of StrawStraw is made from dried-up, hollow stems which are left over after harvesting a food grain crop such as rice, oats, barley, and wheat. As almost half of the yield obtained consists of low-quality stalks, straw, and weeds, straw is abundantly available on farms. Straw bales, which are a common feature on farms, are commonly mistaken to be hay bales.It is promptly dried for various uses around the farm like providing bedding for livestock, making thatched roofs, and can even be used to make lightweight baskets and repurposed into paper or cardboard! Straw used for bedding material instead of hay is recommended as it prevents the animals from eating their bedding.It is also made into bales and used for decoration around the farm, also being used in hay-rides- where it is widely mistaken for hay. As straw is very lightweight and can be mass-produced easily, it is very cheap and can be used to make a variety of products for the farm such as scarecrows, straw hats, and can be used while gardening as compost material, mulch, and as a natural control for weeds.Straw is very cheap and is available at farmers markets for around $4-5 a bale. It has very little feed value, and should not be used to feed livestock as an alternative to hay as it has little to no nutrition. Making straw is helpful to make use of all the leftover waste products from harvested crops. Using straw bales to fertilize fallow land for gardening needs is also common.How is hay different than straw?Hay is used mostly as high-quality animal feed, whereas straw is much inferior in quality. Hay is grown specifically for the purpose of drying in order to produce animal feed, while straw is made from the byproducts of foodgrain crops.Hay is much more valuable and can sell at between $35-60, depending on its size, type, and weight. On the other hand, straw is quite cheap and straw bales are sold at around $4-5. There is a major difference in quality as well, with hay having a very high nutrition value and being heavy, even when dried out. Straw is partially dry to begin with and is made of low-quality hollow stalks.Hay must be stored properly as it can catch moisture very easily, which can ruin it by growing mold. Straw is much easier to store, and it doesn’t matter if it gets wet as it has very little value. Straw bales can be stored out in the open, whereas hay bales are stored in godowns and barns to keep them free from moisture.Hay is used primarily for feeding animals, whereas straw cannot be used to do so. Hay is used as an alternative to letting livestock feed on the grass in a pasture during winter or is used when pasture grass is unable to replenish itself at a fast enough rate. Straw bales are mainly used for making animal bedding, thatch roofs due to their lightweight, scarecrows, and for gardening purposes. It cannot be fed to animals as food as it has no nutritional value.Hay is cut during the growing phase of a crop, right before leaves start to sprout. This helps to retain a large amount of nutritional value, which helps to keep farm animals healthy. Straw on the other hand is collected after the harvest and is made from the leftover stems of cash crops.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for difference between hay and straw then why not take a look at difference between ox and bull, or how are seashells made.
Have you ever tried to buy hay and ended up with straw instead?
