Can Straw Be Toxic?

Q:  “Does it matter where I get straw to put on the garden? My neighbor said I should be careful of toxins in the straw. Is this so?”

Absolutely! It’s vital to source whatever you bring in to go on the garden. Why? Some commercial farmers who raise hay and straw will spray herbicides in their fields in order to kill out certain things and make the product look better, which brings better profits. The problem with that is most of those chemicals have a long residue life, which means if you use it in your garden, or anywhere you’re wanting to grow, you can potentially kill whatever you plant because of the residual. I’ve known of people losing their entire crop because of toxic straw or hay.

Sourcing is important if you’re feeding the product to livestock as well.

I ask questions if I’m buying from an individual. If you get your product from a “big box” store you have no way of knowing where it was grown. I look for the most old-timey traditional looking farm to ask for hay, because I doubt that he would spend the money to spray. Then I ask. An honest farmer will be ok with that.

Sherrie Ottinger, The Tennessee Dirtgirl