A new oat may shovel its way into farmers’ bins and into feed grain markets in two years time.
CDC Super Oats received variety registration last week in Winnipeg.
Breeders hope the new variety’s higher-fat groat and more easily digested hull will be a hit with producers for use in the feed and human use markets.
Brian Rossnagel of the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre bred the oat and said the improvements in digestibility should put it closer to par with barley for the cattle feeding industry.
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“CDC SO-1 (oat) overcomes a lack of nutritional punch that feeders associate with barley, due in part to that poorly digested hull that oats are known for,” said Rossnagel.
Oats have lower nutrient needs than barley and higher yield potential.
In addition, with Super Oats growers should be able to sell their crop for higher prices because of its better feed profile.
Trenton Baisley of Farm Pure Seeds said the new variety came about through a unique breeding approach.
CDC SO-1’s prototype varieties, instead of being fully developed and field tested in feed rations, were fast-tracked through ongoing animal testing as they were developed.
Normally, a new cereal variety passes through a breeding and development cycle of about 12 years until release. The CDC SO-1 program began in 1999.
Scott Wright of the Feeds Innovations Institute, formerly the Prairie Feed Resource Centre, at the U of S, said the simultaneous breeding and feed testing program significantly accelerated the process.
Super Oats Canada, a producer-researcher consortium, also led by Baisley, provided $210,000 in funding for the project. The Saskatchewan government matched the sum.
Pedigreed seed growers are expected to begin producing seed in 2007, with commercial growers getting their first crack at the new variety after the 2008 seed increase season.
