Wheat Straw Bales

Wheat straw is made up of 40% cellulose, 40% hemicellulose, and 15% lignin. Cellulose is the stuff that ruminants can digest and break down into usable sugars for energy. Lignin is the stuff that holds it all together. Straw sits between hay and wood on the lignin scale, making it less palatable than expensive alfalfa hay but still usable. Plain straw can be fed to cattle as a filler in the winter to help keep animals warm as their guts work to digest the woody substance. Some cattle producers take it a step further and put the straw through a process called ammonization before feeding it. Ammonization is the process in which straw is exposed to anhydrous ammonia to increase its nutritional value and digestibility. Then, that straw can be integrated into a feed ration for cattle that can be cost-effective and beneficial to the animal.