We planted a small field of oats every year for several reasons. Oats also made nice bright straw. Most of the time we were also starting a new hayfield by underseeding our perennial forage at the same time we planted oats. And since much of the straw these days is used by landscapers, seeding contractors, or as dairy feed, wheat or rye straw yields more and works very nicely. All that said, oats still own a place in the rotation for those who appreciate them solely as a forage crop.
Around the turn of this century, cover crops were gaining attention at about the same time intensified grazing management was growing quickly in popularity.
Further, we also find that oats can be utilized very nicely in a managed grazing system. Oats can be planted following a wheat harvest or perhaps on failed corn or soybean acres. In fact, our experience in central Ohio has been that we get a greater yield and higher quality feed if we wait until the end of July or very early August. Oats prefer the cooler average daily temperatures we typically experience beginning in August, plus they are more likely not to push out a seedhead but remain vegetative until extremely cold temperatures shut them down completely sometime in December.
As a winter cover following soybeans in the Northeast or Midwest, overseeding spring oats at the leaf-yellowing or early leaf-drop stage and with little residue present can give a combined ground cover as high as 80 percent through early winter By spring, oat plots that had been planted on August 25 had 39 percent fewer weed plants and one-seventh the weed biomass of control plots with no oat cover, while oats planted two weeks later had just 10 percent fewer weed plants in spring and 81 percent of the weed biomass of control plots , No-hassle fieldwork.
As a winterkilled cover, just light disking in spring will break up the brittle oat residue. That exposes enough soil for warming and timely planting. Or, no-till directly into the mulch, as the residue will decompose readily early in the season.
Winter planting. As a fall or winter cover crop in Zone 8 or warmer, seed oats at low to medium rates. You can kill winter-planted oats with spring plowing, or with herbicides in reduced-tillage systems. Spring planting. Seeding rate depends on your intended use: medium to high rates for a spring green manure and weed suppressor, low rates for mixtures or as a legume companion crop. Higher rates may be needed for wet soils or thicker ground cover.
Easy to kill. Oats will winterkill in most of zone 7 or colder. Otherwise, kill by mowing or spraying soon after the vegetative stage, such as the milk or soft dough stage. If speed of spring soil-warming is not an issue, you can spray or mow the oats and leave on the soil surface for mulch.
If you want to incorporate the stand, allow at least two to three weeks before planting the next crop. Killing too early reduces the biomass potential and you could see some regrowth if killing mechanically. But waiting too long could make tillage of the heavier growth more difficult in a conventional tillage system and could deplete soil moisture needed for the next crop.
Timely killing also is important because mature oat stands can tie up nitrogen. Rye and oats are the cover crop mainstays on the nearly 1, acres they farm near Grinnell, Iowa. They now till some acres and are also in the process of transitioning acres to organic. Cover crops play an integral role in this system. Donna does most of the combining and planting, but even with a lot of acres for two people to manage, cover crops are a high priority on their schedule.
Spring oats are broadcast in mid or late March with a fertilizer cart and then rotary harrowed. If going back to corn, they seed at a heavier, 3. For soybeans, they either kill chemically and no-till the beans, or work down and seed conventionally. They have managed rye in different ways over the years depending on its place in the rotation, but prefer to seed into killed or tilled rye rather than a living cover crop.
They figure that they get about 35 lb. Not Helpful 10 Helpful 4. No, this won't work as most of the oats will have the husk removed by machine. It might work if they still have the husk, so you could try to sprout a few test oats before planting the whole packet but don't be surprised if this fails to work.
Not Helpful 0 Helpful 4. Bob Thee Builder. Several days before planting your new seed, water the area to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Measuring the depth of water penetration is easy! Simply insert a long screw driver into the ground. If it pushes down 6 to 8 inches without much resistance, you have the proper water saturation.
Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. Sowing seed at 4f eet interval rows, how much quantity of seed required per hectare? Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Related wikiHows How to. How to. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: 6. Updated: March 12, Article Summary X The best way to grow oats is to find an area where the soil has a pH between 6 and 7.
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