GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

22-05-2003, 01:20 PM

(Frankhartx) writes:

Hay is a field crop(wheat, rye oats etc)that has been harvested
whole--thus it will containm seed heads.

The ideal time to cut hay is before it's gone to seed, since that's
when it has the highest food value. Weather and time constraints
don't always allow that, though. Weeds growing in the hayfield may
also have gone to seed by cutting time. So very high quality hay may
have very few seeds, while a lower-quality hay could have a lot of
them.

Straw is the remaining part of a fields crop after the seed heads
have been harvested and thus will contain few if any seeds

Again, it depends on how many weeds are growing among the dead stalks
that become straw. It also depends on how good a job the combine does
of removing all the grain from the heads.

In general, you will find fewer seeds in straw than in hay, but there
are several other differences to consider when deciding which to use.
(Not least of which might be availability in your area.) Here's my
long explanation of the two from sometime last year:

http://aaron.baugher.pike.il.us/off-...es/000045.html

--
Aaron