LANIGAN, Sask. – A new oat variety slated for commercial release in 2009 could be a boon for cattle producers.
CDC SO-I, specially designed for the ruminant feed market, has a low lignin hull and high oil groat.
The groat provides increased energy, while the low lignin hull makes the oat more digestible.
A recently completed study indicates the new oat doesn’t require processing before feeding for backgrounding cattle.
“With the work that we’ve done on this, when we talk to producers they are very enthusiastic,” said John McKinnon, a beef researcher from the University of Saskatchewan. “I think it’s got a lot of potential.”
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A lot of farmers would rather grow oats than barley in many areas, for a variety of agronomic reasons, he said.
In addition, not having to process the oat means savings in time, labour and the $10 to $15 a tonne it costs to run oats through a roller mill.
McKinnon presented the results of the feeding trial to producers attending the annual field day at the Western Beef Development Centre’s Termeunde Research Ranch.
The objective of the project was to compare the performance of backgrounding cattle fed three different hay-based diets using either dry rolled barley, dry rolled SO-I oat or whole SO-I oat as the grain sources.
The ration was made up of alfalfa-brome hay (63 percent), mineral supplement (two percent) and one of the three grain sources.
The results of the study showed no significant difference in performance among the three diets.
The average daily grain was 1.13 kilograms for the rolled barley ration, 1.19 kg for the rolled oat and 1.18 kg for the whole oat.
“So it looks like there is no need to process this oat,” McKinnon told the producers in attendance.
One potential downside is that the high fat groat in the SO-I oat can influence the fat content in the carcass.
In the trial, the subcutaneous fat measurement was 1.17 millimetres for rolled barley, 1.37 mm for rolled oats and 1.01 mm for the whole oat.
Ribeye area fat was, respectively, 11.75 sq. centimetres, 13.48 sq. cm and 10.72 sq. cm.
McKinnon said one concern with the whole oat ration is that it may result in a softer, unsaturated fat, which can reduce carcass quality.
The SO-I oat was developed at the Crop Development Centre at the U of S. It is being multiplied by FarmPure Seeds and will be commercially available in 2009.
