What's new with oats?

Mike Rankin
Crops and Soils Agent
University of Wisconsin - Extension

        Oats have become a near forgotten crop.  There have been lots of reasons for this that don't need to be expanded upon now.  However, there is some oat news for Wisconsin growers or those who plan to grow oats in 2002.  The big news is the simple fact that oat prices during recent months are as high as they've been in a long time.  At this writing, local spot prices were just under $2.00 per bushel.

        Another bit of news is the release of two new oat varieties by the University of Wisconsin.  The first, named 'Moraine', is an early maturing variety with high yield potential, test weight, and resistance to crown rust.  The 3-year average yield for Moraine in University test trials was 103 bushels per acre (1999-2001).  Highest yields were obtained at Arlington where Moraine averaged 152 bushels per acre.

            The second new oat variety was bred exclusively for its forage potential and is aptly named 'ForagePlus'.  It is a late-maturing variety with excellent crown rust resistance.  Dry matter forage yields from ForagePlus have ranged from 3.2 to 4.3 tons of dry matter per acre!  This is more than 1.0 ton more than other varieties in the forage trials.  The tradeoff is that forage quality is somewhat less than other varieties.  Both ForagePlus and Moraine are licensed varieties and will be available for the 2002 planting season.

For more information contact Mike Rankin

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