Product comparison
Choosing the right hay for your needs can be challenging, especially with so many options available. That’s why we’ve created a comprehensive product comparison glossary so you can understand the technical terms associated with our various hay and straw products.
| Timothy Hay | Alfalfa Hay | Straw | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nutritional Value | Higher in Fiber Content | Higher in protein and calcium content | low in nutritional value |
| Digestibility | Less Digestible | Highly Digestible | Less Digestible |
| Suitable for different animals | Better for adult animnals that require a diet high in fiber | better for young and growing animales, pregnant or lactating animals, and animals that require higher protein levels | Suitable as bedding material, not recommended as a sole diet |
| Price | Generally less expensive | Generally more expensive | leaset expensive option |
| Taste and palatability | slightly earthy flavor | Sweeter and more palatable | Not usually consumed as a food source |
| Timothy Hay | Alfalfa Hay | Straw | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nutritional Value | Higher in Fiber Content | Higher in protein and calcium content | low in nutritional value |
| Feed Purpose | Fiber | ||
| Suitable for different animals | Better for adult animals that require a diet high in fiber | better for young and growing animals, pregnant or lactating animals, and animals that require higher protein levels | Suitable as bedding material, not recommended as a sole diet |
| Price | Generally More expensive | Generally Less expensive | least expensive option |
| Taste and palatability | slightly earthy flavor | Sweeter and more palatable | Not usually consumed as a food source |
Hay is harvested from herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for animals such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep (rephrase, directly from Wikipedia). Hay is a harvested plant that has been dried and cured after being cut in the field at various times in its growth period, depending on the type of hay. There are many different categories and types of hay. The main categories are grass hays, legume hays, cereal grain hays, as well as mixed hays (hays that use a mixture of these types).
Grass hays have a medium to low protein content while being high in fiber content. Some of the more common grass hays are timothy hay, orchard grass hay, fescue hay, and coastal Bermuda hay.
Timothy Hay is grass hay that grows best in a cool season climate. Timothy hay is an exceptional roughage and fiber source. The long stem and consistent quality allows good consumption and provides good conditioning for dairy cows and horses. Timothy has long been thought of as the premier hay for horses, and for many years it has been well known and widely used in the race horse industry.
In general, legume hays are higher in protein content and lower in fiber content than grass hays. Common legume hays include alfalfa hay and clover, however alfalfa hay is by far the most widely grown and used legume hay.
Alfalfa Hay is a legume hay and is widely used around the world for feeding livestock such as cows, horses, goats, sheep, and other animals. Alfalfa hay is an excellent source of fiber and protein. It is a popular choice around the world for top producing dairy cows, as well as being used in the diet of high performance horses.
Straw is the byproduct of a harvested plant, and is only comprised of the stocks of the plants. Straw is commonly used as it provides a good high fiber roughage and filler in the diet of many livestock.
Rye Grass Straw
Baled following seed harvest, this high fiber, economically priced roughage is used as livestock feed. Rye Grass Straw, most popular with export beef industry users, is also gaining in popularity with dairy farmers.
Fescue Grass Straw
Fescue Grass Straw is also popular with dairy farmers in the export market and is successfully fed in the beef market. It has a coarser, longer stem compared to Rye. It is also considered very good, economically priced roughage.
Orchard Grass Straw
Like Rye and Fescue, Orchard Grass Straw is another very good roughage or filler. It has a coarser stem and is a popular source of fiber in the export market.
Blue Grass Straw
Blue Grass Staw is a high quality grass straw. It has the highest feed value of all grass straws and is popular in both domestic and export markets for dairy and beef cows.
Alfalfa Hay
Alfalfa Hay
Timothy hay
Timothy Hay
Straw Products
Straw Products
Our Quality Commitment
Anderson Hay follows a rigid protocol for ensuring the traceability of all our products. From planting to harvest, we work with our grower network of family-owned farms to provide a consistent supply of top quality products to our customers all year round.