Editing Straw (section)

{{Short description|Agricultural byproduct of cereal crops}}
{{Other uses}}
{{distinguish|hay|drinking straw}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2008}}
[[File:Rice straw.jpg|thumb|Bundles of [[rice]] straw]]
[[File:pile-of-straw.jpg|thumb|Pile of stacked small rectangular straw bales sheltered under a clear [[tarpaulin]]]]
[[File:Straw lines and Combine Harvester.jpg|thumb|Straw lines and a [[Combine Harvester|combine harvester]]]]
'''Straw''' is an agricultural [[byproduct]] consisting of the dry [[wikt:stalk|stalk]]s of [[cereal]] plants after the [[grain]] and [[chaff]] have been removed. It makes up about half of the [[crop yield|yield]] by weight of cereal crops such as [[barley]], [[oat]]s, [[rice]], [[rye]] and [[wheat]]. It has a number of different uses, including [[fuel]], [[livestock bedding]] and [[fodder]], [[thatching]] and [[basket making]].

Straw is usually gathered and stored in a '''straw bale''', which is a [[wikt:bale|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.