The oat committee was established in 2010 in response to a workshop organized by Alberta Agriculture organic specialist Keri Sharpe.
She invited organic oat growers to talk with those in the oat supply chain, including representatives from the CanOat mill in Barrhead, Alta., now Viterra Food Processing, and ClifBar, which makes an organic energy bar.
“We were looking at a more stable income for farmers,” said Sam Godwin, a producer from Sangudo, Alta., and chair of the oat committee.
“Oat markets were stalled, and producers were finding it difficult to sell the oats they had.”
Oat markets have since improved. “There is less interest in the marketing end, now that we’ve hit our target price” he said. “We’ve shifted gears, going at it from a different point of view with the comparative trials.”
A survey sponsored by the oat committee, ClifBar and the Organic Seed Alliance found that organic oat producers were interested in variety trials and breeding projects.
At an organic field day near Barrhead this summer, Dennis Galbraith of Viterra identified incidents of smut in an oat crop. Most producers had never seen this disease on oats.
Galbraith said the low level of the disease meant it probably would not be a problem this year, but he urged the producer of this particular crop to obtain new seed for the following year’s planting rather than use his own saved seed because oat smut is seed borne.
The smut was found in a field of Calibre oats, an older, susceptible variety.
The survey found that most producers were using AC Morgan, which is moderately susceptible to smut, or Derby, which is susceptible.
Wet conditions this spring increased the probability of disease developing in the Barrhead area, where problems have not been seen in recent years.
Finding smut in an organic oat field reinforced the oat committee’s resolve to establish the comparative trial projects. Newer varieties generally provide better disease resistance and may provide yield and maturity benefits. This would be tested in the trials.
Members of the oat committee and field day participants met with Galbraith during a kitchen round table at the field day to consider newer varieties with good milling quality.
They decided that producers participating in the comparative trials would grow their usual oat varieties but would also seed two seeder widths of two new varieties.
The producers felt it was important that the varieties be field tested on organic farms with farm scale equipment.
Producers will test two shorter season varieties, probably Souris and CDC Dancer.
In Manitoba, Souris is one of the earliest oats on the market, with resistance to rust and smut. It is high yielding with heavy groats.
CDC Dancer is an early, high quality variety with smut and rust resistance.
Producers would also test a variety with similar maturity to their usual AC Morgan and Derby.
One option is Triactor, a high yielding variety with resistance to smut and rust.
The oat committee intends to run these trials in the Barrhead, Valleyview and La Crete regions.
Organic oat producers were also interested in participating in a breeding project with Agriculture Canada oat breeder Jennifer Mitchell-Fetch in Winnipeg.
Mitchell-Fetch has crossed varieties to produce an oat mixture with genetic variability. She wants producers to grow it out, remove types they don’t like and save the seed they do like. After years of fine tuning, they will eventually develop an oat suited to their region and production practices.
The oat committee hopes these projects will provide them with information and new options. The ultimate goal is to provide producers with the means to increase the quality and yield of organic oats and improve overall returns to producers
Brenda Frick, Ph. D., P. Ag. is an extension agrologist and researcher in organic agriculture. She welcomes your comments at 306-260-0663 or email
