Our Original HAY! Straws are made from the stem of the wheat plant, a by-product of wheat production. Wheat is typically grown for its grain, which gets made into flour and other food products. Once the wheat plant reaches maturity and turns golden yellow, the grain is harvested off. The wheat stems get cut and made into things like hay for animal feed and the rest is tossed away and burned. Our Jumbo's are made from reed. Common reeds' rapid ability to spread and take over fragile salt marsh ecosystems makes it an invasive species in several parts of the world. The reed is harvested by farmers for several reasons. For example, the stems are being used for thatching of roofs. Excess reed is often burned to ashes.With our products, farmers can get an extra income from the waste product instead of burning them and polluting the ecological system.