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cultivator SPRING EDITION 2021
WHAT OAT VARIETY SHOULD I PLANT? MAC EHRHARDT, ALBERT LEA SEED
When a farmer calls to ask us about oats, our first question is, “What’s the end use?” Variety selection is simply much easier once you define why you are growing oats. As with corn and soybeans, oat variety selection is critical. If you plan on selling whole oats for livestock feed or food-grade markets, then quality characteristics, like test weight, rise to the top of the criteria list. But what if you’re looking for oats to plant and underseed with legumes? What if you need oat straw for your farm, or to sell? Or maybe you’re incorporating oats for haylage—what varieties should you consider then? Once you know your end use, you can consider the Big Six, the six most common selection criteria in oat varieties: • Yield • Test Weight • Disease Resistance (Crown Rust and Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus) • Maturity • Lodging Resistance (and height) • Adaptation: how varieties perform within their specific geography and field conditions. Every location is different, and there can be performance variability from season to season. Keep an eye on trials near you. Our Trial Data page contains links to recent oat variety trials from across the region, so you can see how specific varieties performed—and under what management methods.
MATURITY Early-heading varieties are often good choices for more southerly locations where summer heat can reduce grain yields. This is because the later an oat variety heads out, the higher the likelihood that it’s going to be heading at a time when there’s hot weather. Late oats, in general, aren’t a great choice as you move them south. Early is also better when farmers are planting oats as a nurse crop for alfalfa. By contrast, later-maturing varieties are often taller (for more straw and/or forage) and can be more adapted to more northern locations.
LODGING Lodging is a major challenge for farmers across the Midwest, especially for oats being harvested for grain. If you are harvesting your oats for grain, and especially if your oats are underseeded with a hay crop, make sure you choose a variety with a good lodging score.
DISEASE Environmental and disease stresses affect grain quality and yield, so select oat varieties with resistance to the stresses most prevalent in your location. Diseases can reduce test weight, which could jeopardize an oat crop’s marketability for a milling market. Crown rust is the most significant disease that oats face in our growing area, but barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) can also be a problem. Farmers should select oat varieties with high resistance to crown rust, and non-Organic farmers should consider spraying a fungicide if weather conditions are conducive to the development of rust.
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3/4/21 9:39 AM