Oats

Oats - Avena sativa

(Spelt oats, naked oats)

Since early medieval times, oats had been one of the most important field crops in Europe. Even in 1939, oats still ranked third after wheat and maize as most important cereal crop worldwide. In Germany, oats had been the most important cereal after rye well into the first half of the 20th century. With increasing motorization, oats lost its importance as horse feed. Its nutritional value as food or animal feed, however, remains uncontested. In Europe, oats have been cultivated on 3.1 million hectares in 2008. German farmers planted more than 185,000 hectares of oats, harvesting an average of 45 dt/ha.

High Nutritional Value

A great part of the oats produced is still used as animal feed for horses, cattle or poultry. The alimentary value of oats is high. Since oat grains are dehulled, not debranned, the vitamins of the outer grain skin are preserved. Oat products for human consumption are oat flakes, oat milk and oatmeal. In some regions, oats are used for making whiskey.

Grain and Straw Quality

After long times of simple selection of particularly suitable oat varieties, combination breeding enabled the plant breeders after the First World War to achieve the first substantial progress in grain yield and straw quality, oat straw being a valuable animal feed. Breeding has first focused on yield stability, resistance to lodging, early maturity, susceptibility to shattering or pre-harvest sprouting, followed by grain quality and resistance against mildew or crown rust.

Breeding Perspectives for Oats

A milestone in oat breeding was the development of winter oats. The prolonged vegetation period and the concomitant yield increase might boost oat cultivation in the future. In 2008, 31 different high-performing oat varieties have been cultivated in Germany.