Written collaboratively by Melanie Caffe-Treml, Lucia Gutierrez, Kevin P. Smith, and Jonathan Kleinjan
The tight production margins currently present in agriculture have increased interest in growing organic oats. Oats can be a good crop for a beginning organic producer because the crop provides good early season growth to compete with weeds. In order to provide producers with oat performance data, twenty oat varieties were tested in three locations across Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin in 2017-2018. Results are summarized in this publication. Important management considerations for organic oat production, other than variety selection, have been summarized in an online extension article from University of Minnesota Extension which can be found at: https://extension.umn.edu/small-grainscrop-and-variety-selection/organic-oat-production.
