PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Many Saskatchewan oat growers are getting
kicked out of the high-paying oats market because their fine-looking
crops have been discovered to be “Holstein” oats.
The problem of “Holstein oats” – oats that when de-hulled reveal
dark-coloured stripes or blotches much like the cow breed – buzzed
among producers, processors and researchers at the Prairie Oat Growers
Association annual meeting.
Tales of loads of oats being turned back by buyers were common.
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No one knows what has caused this problem, which is widespread in
Saskatchewan but not generally affecting Manitoba crops.
The dark colouring means that badly affected oats cannot be sold into
the premium milling market for human consumption. They can be sold into
the feed market, but prices for feed are far below the milling price.
“It’s a deuce of a nightmare,” said Dennis Galbraith, manager of
procurement for Can-Oat Milling in Portage la Prairie. The company’s
Saskatoon plant has seen many loads of splotched oats.
“It’s a huge issue for us, and we don’t know what’s causing it.”
Galbraith said many people are calling the colouring “water damage,”
but under the microscope, that doesn’t appear to be the cause.
Some have proposed that the August frost in Saskatchewan could be the
culprit, but Galbraith said problem crops have been found outside the
frost zone.
Others think the sudden heat wave that also struck Saskatchewan might
have caused the damage, but Galbraith said entire oat plants should
have died before there were signs of damage on the groats.
Canadian Grain Commission scientists have noted the starch underneath
discoloured patches looks similar to that found after bin fires, but “I
have trouble imagining how you’d get that much heat in a field. It
doesn’t make sense,” said Galbraith.
A disease could be the cause, and high pathogen counts have been found
in samples of Holstein oats, but no specific one has been found to be a
sufficient cause of the damage.
Galbraith thinks the most likely explanation is that a disease has
caused the damage. But not knowing whether that’s true, or what to look
for, means producers will have trouble neutralizing the problem before
seeding the next crop.
“Our greatest concern is that if it is a pathogen and it is seed borne,
are we creating another horrific problem next year?”
Farmers have trouble discovering the problem because none of the damage
is visible until the oat is hulled.
Galbraith said oat variety Derby appears to be susceptible to the
problem, but he doesn’t know if other oat varieties are as bad.
“For three months we’ve been trying to figure out what’s causing it.”
