The age-old question: Straw vs Hay, what’s the difference? This time of the year we get flooded with questions about using straw versus hay for a given task. Straw is plant stubble from a harvested crop. It’s called straw because it’s hollow. Straw is also a regional product. In North Texas, 99% of the straw is from wheat. The other 1% is typically made from oats. Straw is mainly used for decoration, bedding, erosion control, mulch, and archery backstops. It can also be used as a building material and in composting operations.
Hay is grown as food for livestock. It can be used like straw but is expensive for the task. Most of the hay grown in our area is one of several types of hybrid Bermuda.
If you need either you can pick up straw or hay bales Wells Brothers. Create your autumn lawn display or use it as seating for the hayride or around the bonfire. Just be careful around fire. Straw works great as an insulator for the outside pets. It is not recommended to use straw as equine bedding, as horses may eat it, causing digestive problems. Got bare spots in your yard or around the barn? Put some straw down to keep the mud to a minimum.
Wells Brothers also offers straw bale rental. Straw sells for $9.75 a bale and if you bring it back in sellable condition we refund you $4.00. For a straw bale to be in sellable condition it must be dry (damp is not dry) with no stains and both tie wires intact with the original receipt. Give us a call at 972-424-8516 to find out more about our straw rental program.
Pick up hay bales, straw bales, and other supplies at Wells Brothers. And come springtime, if you have any of those straw bales left, try Straw bale gardening. We’ve got easy, step by step instructions to plant your most unconventional garden yet!
