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Growing high test weight oats

12K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Alberta Pioneer 
#1 ·
Hey, I've always wondered what the trick to raising higher test weight oats is. We farm in southern Iowa and it's always nice to have 20 acres of oats to have a place to spread manure in the summer and to have the straw for bedding in the winter. However, we can't ever seem to get a high enough test weight to take the to quaker oats in cedar rapids. I think they want them over 38 lbs and we are lucky if we get close to 30 in a good year. Is cool weather and plenty of moisture the key or is the other ways to achieve this? Since oats aren't very popular down here, there aren't alot of varities to choose from. Are some better than others at getting better weights? Thanks for any info and advice.
 
#2 ·
I think cool moist weather is the biggest key. Some guys say to limit Nitrogen, but I have put anywhere from 40 to 100 lbs an acre on and still gotten 40 to 48 pound oats consistently. We are in a consistent oat region, and we are cool and damp generally, so I think this has more to do with it. I have never gotten below 40.5 pound oats, and this includes frost years like 2004, which decimated most other crop types...
 
#3 ·
In your area.....Plant as early as possible......Spray Stratego on Flag leaf and set the wind high as wheat when combining, makes a huge difference. You will blow a bunch of light oats out the back and disk in to get re-growth and create green manure. Spread your manure on the green oats and when they are 14 inches tall disk them in again....Does huge amount of good for your dirt.
 
#6 ·
5288 kid
I am in south central Ontario , probably similiar heat units as you . Corn wise we grow up to 108 day varieties.
We too have issues with heavy bushel weight oats , If we can get them in on the frost in late Febuary or early March ,we plant them , if april 1 arrives we won't put them in .
Definitely protect the oats with fungicides , we tank mix fungicide with the herbicide and also lay on a fungicide at the flag.

Best of luck
Mark
 
#7 ·
Mark, you frost seed?!

Holy ****, so many friggin farmers think it's a hoax.... Glad to hear it, never done it myself, but always thought it was a more logical way to go. More than proves you're ambitious.

Bruce
 
#8 ·
The farther north you are the heavier the oats they like long hours of sunlight and not to hot of daytime temeratures. I have seen many samples on oats from north of edmonton that have been in the 52 53 54 55 pound bushel wieghts and in the south here it is hard to get 45 pounders usually around 41 42 here
 
#9 ·
Bruce
In our area frost seeded cereals far out perform , normal spring seeded (when soil conditions are dryer and proper).
We gain Bu/ ac , test weight and usually get ahead of the FHB season.
We are down tight to Lake Ontario and we can get some real heavy disease pressure come late june.

Personally , at our place if the spring grains don't go in on the frost they don't usually go in.

Mark
 
#11 ·
Big Cob,
Where I'm located, we can get buy with planting 117 day corn if we get it in early. I've heard very little about frost seeding. My grandad has frost seeded clover before in feb. Would this be basically the same thing? Do you just get a fertilizer cart and spread them over your ground? What if there's snow on the ground? If oats are up, will the cold hurt them much? Looks like I have to be a "cool" canadian to grow good oats, haha. Also, when you guys say limit the nitrogen, how much are you talking? Thanks for all the help, I'll be sure to try alot of this for next year.
 
#12 · (Edited)
5288 KID
When we frost seed we use a drill , we have a JD 1590 for this . Tried broadcasting and it doesn't work as good as a drill.
We will wait untill snow is gone and we have lost some or all frost.
We will get a -5 to - 10 C ( 23 to 12F) night (soft frost) and we are out early AM on the frost , seeding around the 1" depth just enough to cover. We will also put down Alfalfa this way but not quite as early as Oats.
WE haven't lost Oats to the cold this way yet. I actually like to see a little snow fall on the oats and peas once they are just out of the ground.

Like your grandfather we also will go out onto frozen ground (hard frost) and broadcast clover as plow down in the winter wheat or barley . And also broadcast grassy hay mix onto the pastures and hay fields that need thickening up. We use a HERD Seeder on a Polaris Ranger, you could probably use a fertilizer spreader if you can get one that accurate down to the lower rates.

We find it works well for us

P.S. If you get out on frost that is too hard you will not penetrate and more than likely break some parts if you make it penetrate,(been there and done it)

Mark
 
#13 ·
For high test weight oats, we seed heavy, up to 3 bu/acre (cuts down on tillers), spray tilt or stratego at flag leaf and as others said, keep the wind up on the combine to blow out the light ones and maybe keep the concave fairly tight to knock off the tails and polish it up a little more so it flows into the cox funnel better at the elevator.
 
#14 ·
I take it no problem with volunteers/wild oats? How much are you figuring you lose blowing out the light ones? Worth taking it all in and feeding the light ones to your own cattle (assuming an operator has cattle)?

Bruce
 
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