Straw - Citizendia

For other uses, see Straw (disambiguation).

Bales of straw

bundles of rice straw

Pile of straw bales, sheltered under a tarpaulin

Straw is an agricultural byproduct, the dry stalk of a cereal plant, after the nutrient grain or seed has been removed. A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored Straw makes up about half of the yield of a cereal crop such as barley, oats, rice, rye or wheat. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Oats redirects here It may mean either the common cereal oat discussed here or any cultivated or wild species of the Genus Avena. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Rye ( Secale cereale) is a grass grown extensively as a grain and forage crop Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. In times gone by, it was regarded as a useful by-product of the harvest, but with the advent of the combine harvester, straw has become more of a burden, almost a nuisance to farmers (why, how?). A by-product is a secondary or incidental product deriving from a Manufacturing process a Chemical reaction or a biochemical pathway and is not the primary product In Agriculture, the harvest is the process of Gathering mature crops from the fields Reaping is the cutting of Grain The combine harvester, or simply combine, also known as a thresher is a machine that combines the

However, straw can be put to many uses, old and new.

Uses

Biofuels
- The use of straw as a carbon-neutral energy source is increasing rapidly, especially for biobutanol. Butanol may be used as a Fuel in an Internal combustion engine.

Bedding humans or livestock
- The straw-filled mattress, also known as palliasse, is still used in many parts of the world. Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food
- It is commonly used as bedding for ruminants and horses. It may be used as bedding and food for small animals, but this often leads to injuries to mouth, nose and eyes as straw is quite sharp.

Animal feed
- Straw may be fed as part of the roughage component of the diet to cattle that are on a near maintenance level of energy requirement. In Agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any Foodstuff that is used specifically to feed Domesticated Livestock, such as It has a low digestible energy and nutrient content. The heat generated when microorganisms in a herbivore's gut digest straw can be useful in maintaining body temperature in cold climates. Due to the risk of impaction and its poor nutrient profile, it should always be restricted to part of the diet.

Hats
- There are several styles of straw hats that are made of woven straw. For the 1974 Soviet film see The Straw Hat. For the crew from One Piece, see Straw Hat Pirates.
- Until about 100 years ago, thousands of women and children in England were employed in plaiting straw for making hats. Straw plaiting is a method of manufacturing Textiles by Braiding Straw and the industry that surrounds the craft of producing these straw manufactures These days the straw plait is imported.

Thatching
- Thatched roofs are becoming increasingly popular, and the skills of a master thatcher are once again in demand.
Packaging
- Straw is resistant to being crushed and therefore makes a good packing material. Packaging is the science art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution storage sale and use A company in France makes a straw mat sealed in thin plastic sheets.
- Straw envelopes for wine bottles have become rarer, but are still to be found at some wine merchants.

Paper
- Straw can be pulped to make paper.

Archery targets
- Heavy gauge straw rope is coiled and sewn tightly together. Archery is the practice of using a bow or Crossbow to shoot Arrows Archery has historically been used in Hunting and Combat and has This is no longer done entirely by hand, but is partially mechanised.

Horse collars
- Working horses are making a comeback, and there is a need for horse collars stuffed with good quality rye straw. A horse collar is a part of a Horse harness device used to distribute load around a Horse 's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plow Being a "long straw filler" is a highly skilled job.

Construction material: bricks / cob
- In many parts of the world, straw is used to bind clay and concrete. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag This mixture of clay and straw, known as cob, can be used as a building material. Cob is a Building material consisting of Clay, Sand, Straw, water and earth, similar to Adobe. There are many recipes for making cob.
- When baled, straw has excellent insulation characteristics. This article describes the farm machinery For the municipality in Aurora, Philippines, see Baler Aurora. It can be used, alone or in a post-and-beam construction, to build straw bale houses. “Straw bale construction is at once an American invention and a sustainable answer to housing needs on and off the reservation
- Enviroboard can be made from straw. Enviroboard is a construction panel generally manufactured using compressed ecologically safe sourced material

Rope
- Rope made from straw was used by thatchers, in the packaging industry and even in iron foundries.

Basketry
- Bee skeps and linen baskets are made from coiled and bound together continuous lengths of straw. Basket weaving (also basketry, basket making, or basketmaking) is the process of Weaving unspun Vegetable Fibers into A beehive is in a general sense an enclosed structure in which some species of Honey bees (genus Apis) live and raise their young The technique is known as lip work.

Horticulture
- Straw is used in cucumber houses and for mushroom growing. Horticulture is the art and science of plant cultivation Horticulturists (or horticuluralists) work and conduct research in the fields of Plant propagation The cucumber ( Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the Gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same A mushroom is the fleshy Spore -bearing Fruiting body of a Fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source
- In Japan, certain trees are wrapped with straw to protect them from the effects of a hard winter as well as to use them as a trap for parasite insects. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.
- It is also used in ponds to reduce algae by changing the nutrient ratios in the water. Algae ( sing. alga are a large and diverse group of simple typically Autotrophic organisms ranging from Unicellular to Multicellular forms
- The soil under strawberries is covered with straw to protect the ripe berries from dirt. Garden strawberries are a common variety of strawberry cultivated worldwide
- Straw also makes an excellent mulch. In Agriculture and Gardening, '''mulch''' is a protective cover placed over the Soil, primarily to modify the effects of the local Climate.

Belarusian Straw Bird

Decoration
- Corn dollies
- Straw marquetry
- Harvest crosses

Erosion control
- Burned area emergency response
- Ground cover
- In-stream check dams

Uses

See also