Straw

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Straw (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with hay or drinking straw.
Bundles of rice straw
Pile of stacked small rectangular straw bales sheltered under a clear tarpaulin
combine harvester

Straw is an agricultural

basket making
.

Straw is usually gathered and stored in a straw bale, which is a bale, or bundle, of straw tightly bound with twine, wire, or string. Straw bales may be square, rectangular, star shaped or round, and can be very large, depending on the type of baler used.

Uses

Current and historic uses of straw include:

Animal feed

A traditional method of storing wheat hay in Punjab.

Straw may be fed as part of the

roughage component of the diet to cattle or horses that are on a near maintenance level of energy requirement. It has a low digestible energy and nutrient content (as opposed to hay, which is much more nutritious). 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. It may be fed as it is, or chopped into short lengths, known as chaff
.

Basketry

Bee skeps and linen baskets
are made from coiled and bound together continuous lengths of straw. The technique is known as lip work.

Bedding

Straw 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.

The straw-filled mattress, also known as a

palliasse
, is still used by people in many parts of the world.

Bioplastic

Rice straw, an agricultural waste which is not usually recovered, can be turned into bioplastic with mechanical properties akin to polystyrene in its dry state.[1]

Chemicals

Straw is being investigated as a source of fine chemicals including alkaloids, flavonoids, lignins, phenols, and steroids.[2]

Construction material

Main articles: Straw-bale construction and Alternative natural materials

In many parts of the world, straw is used to bind clay and

cob
, can be used as a building material. There are many recipes for making cob.

When

passive solar and other renewable energy projects.[3]

Wheat straw can be used as a fibrous filler combined with polymers to produce composite lumber.[4]

Enviroboard can be made from straw.

Strawblocks are strawbales that have been recompressed to the density of woodblocks, for compact

cargo container shipment, or for straw-bale construction of load-bearing walls that support roof-loads, such as a "living" or green roofs.[5]

Crafts

Belarusian Straw Dolls
straw art mobile puzuris[6]

Craft usages of straw include:

Construction site sediment control

Straw bales are sometimes used for

geotextiles.[8]

They can also be used as burned area emergency response, as ground cover or as in-stream check dams.

Fuel source

The use of straw as a carbon-neutral energy source is increasing rapidly, especially for

biobutanol. Straw or hay briquettes are a biofuel
substitute to coal.

Straw, processed first as briquettes, has been fed into a biogas plant in Aarhus University, Denmark, in a test to see if higher gas yields could be attained.[9]

The use of straw in large-scale

co-firing rate of 15% in modern IGCC
plants.

Gardening

Straw bale gardening[10] is also popular among gardeners who do not have enough space for soil gardening. When properly conditioned, straw bales can be used as a perfect soil substitute.

Hats

A straw hat

There are several styles of straw hats that are made of woven straw.

Many thousands of women and children in England (primarily in the

plaiting straw for making hats. By the late 19th century, vast quantities of plaits were being imported to England from Canton in China,[11] and in the United States most of the straw plait was imported.[12]

A fiber analogous to straw is obtained from the plant

Panama hats.[12]

Traditional Japanese rain protection consisted of a straw hat and a mino cape.[13]

Horticulture

Straw is used in cucumber houses and for mushroom growing.

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. (see Komomaki)

It is also used in ponds to reduce

algae
by changing the nutrient ratios in the water.

The soil under strawberries is covered with straw to protect the ripe berries from dirt, and straw is also used to cover the plants during winter to prevent the cold from killing them.

Straw also makes an excellent mulch.

Music

In areas of pastoral Europe, straw may be used to create a type of simple, reeded wind instrument known to English speakers as the oaten pipe,[14] although similar instruments are known to be made in Turkey and the Middle east, and north Africa.

Packaging

Straw is resistant to being crushed and therefore makes a good

packing material
. 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.

Wheat straw is also used in compostable food packaging such as compostable plates. Packaging made from wheat straw can be certified compostable and will biodegrade in a commercial composting environment.[15]

Paper

Straw can be pulped to make paper.[16]

Rope

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

Saekki is a traditional Korean rope made of woven straw.

Shoes

The Chinese wore

caixie
, shoes and sandals made of straw, well into modernity.

Koreans wear jipsin, sandals made of straw.

Several types of traditional Japanese shoes, such as

zōri
, are made of straw.

In some parts of Germany like Black Forest and Hunsrück people wear straw shoes at home or at carnival.

Targets

Heavy-gauge straw rope is coiled and sewn tightly together to make archery targets. This is no longer done entirely by hand, but is partially mechanised. Sometimes a paper or plastic target is set up in front of straw bales, which serve to support the target and provide a safe backdrop.

Thatching

Thatching uses straw, reed or similar materials to make a waterproof, lightweight roof with good insulation properties. Straw for this purpose (often wheat straw) is grown specially and harvested using a reaper-binder.

Health and safety

Dried straw presents a fire hazard that can ignite easily if exposed to sparks or an open flame. It can also trigger allergic rhinitis in people who are hypersensitive to airborne allergens such as straw dust.

See also

References

  1. S2CID 140096514
    . Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  2. S2CID 43907721
    .
  3. ^ The Straw Bale House: Suitability for the Eastern U.S.
  4. ^ "Adding Value to Wheat Straw By Anduin Kirkbride-McElroy. Biomass Magazine, 2007".
  5. ISBN 978-1-77142-256-7
    . Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  6. ^ Lazdiņa, Renāte (December 1, 2015). "Straw mobiles - an old Latvian craft being revived". Public Broadcasting of Latvia.
  7. ^ "Straw Bale Barrier" (PDF). Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual. Denver, CO: Urban Drainage and Flood Control District. November 2010. SBB-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-14.
  8. ^ "National Menu of Stormwater Best Management Practices: Straw or Hay Bales". National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2006-06-01. Archived from the original on 2013-07-30.
  9. ^ [email protected] (2017-06-30). "show". dca.au.dk. Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2017-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Straw Bale Gardening For Beginners | A Great Alternative to Soil Gardening & 10 Vegs To Grow - Organic Gardening Geek". organicgardeningeek.com. 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
  11. ^ a b Baynes, T. S.; Smith, W. R., eds. (1887). "Straw Manufactures" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  12. ^
    The American Cyclopædia
    .
  13. ISBN 9780230346628
    .
  14. ^ Barrett, William Alexander (1898). Stainer and Barrett's Dictionary of musical terms - Sir John Stainer, William Alexander Barrett - Google Books. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  15. ^ Viv Biz Club: Compostable Plates Archived 2010-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ISBN 9781134044825
    .

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