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Latimer Iowa | I am by no means an expert but have grown about 5000 acres of oats in the past 5 years. This past year was the toughest one we have had due to wet weather in July. Our 5 year average on those acres is 130.4 bpa and a test weight of 39.6 lbs/bu. So not as good as Canada. corn bean oat rotation.
What has worked for us: By no means is this saying something does or doesn't work somewhere else and we tweek every year as well.
Know what chemical was sprayed on the crop the year before and residuals. Since was corn you are likely fine, yellow chemicals on beans are the worst for carryover.
Plant as early as possible. Earliest we have been able to get across field was March 8th a few years ago. They are cold tolerant, it has been down to 8 degrees after planting and had no issues. Early planting gets the oats ahead of weeds and generally better quality the sooner they are planted.
We plant 90lbs per acre with a stand goal of 1.2M-1.5M per acre. Some guys do heavier, I know organic guys do for weed control. Where I have overlaps, endrows/oddrows, and the oats are double planted at 180 lbs per acre they will lodge. Thicker the oats are the easier they will lodge but the better they will choke out weeds. I think getting them planted early allows for more tillering. If planting is delayed i would increase populations.
Use a good drill or air seeder that will plant a consistent population. Don't use a endgate seeder and disk them in. Narrow rows are the best for weed suppression and i plant 3/4-1 inch deep. I personally, of the equipment available in our area, like the Deere single disk no-till units on 7.5 inch spacing. If you only have access to a 15" drill, planting twice in a diamond pattern works.
Your fertilizer sounds decent, we shoot for 80-100 lbs of available N through manure and figure the rest of nutrients needed come with that manure. We spread 1.5 tons litter or 2200 gallons hog manure. Make sure the manure is spread very, very, very, evenly. You shouldn't even really see where the manure is spread. I would be careful not to spread more then a couple additional tons of your cattle manure and again, spread it even. If its dry enough to spread manure in the spring you should be planting the oats, not spreading manure. If you can see manure strips the oats will lodge. We have topdressed urea with a spinner in Mid May if the oats have a yellow color or tissue tests show deficiency.
Pick a variety that has your needs in mind. If you are going for yield and test weight in your area I would plant Reins. They are a Illinois variety and I plant 95% Reins. They are short and early minimizing lodging and opens a window for double crop, grazing crop, or growing some N. Its hard to grow much N but easy to plant a grazing mix and turn out cattle. If you want more straw, Rushmore has been a good performer but they lodge much easier. There are some new varieties I am experimenting with but can't speak to yet. Do not plant Saddle or Jerry.
I have not had great luck seeding with clover. Seems like the clover hurts the oat yield and quality a bit. If you are trying to grow the clover for baling or for N then it works. We are going for oat yield. Clover can change what you can spray for herbicide in season as well.
In season herbicide I have used 2-4D or MPCA. They wont kill grass. We have been spraying less then 5% of our acres in a given year. generally the oats choke out weeds. Likely plan to spray one pass along your field boundaries. This past year with all the rain we couldn't get the oats cut and the weeds kept growing. Turned into a bit of a mess so I will be a bit more aggressive spraying this year. Best to do it in early-mid May when weeds are only a few inches tall.
Fungicides, we haven't been using any. I would aggressively scout and only spray fungicide if needed. After flag leaf there is a diminishing economic benefit. I am not a fungicide guy though and haven't been using on any of our crops.
Harvest, we direct cut with a draper starting when the oats are about 19%. Direct Cutting early keeps them from lodging, gets them out of the field and preserves quality, and also opens field up for the next crop. I run them through our mixed flow Grain Handler with great results. Plenum of 135, about 3/4 max speed and they dry very easy. I don't leave it run over night or when someone is not monitoring. The hulls/husks are flammable. We have never had an issue, just something I have heard. I know a guy using a SuperB and a Sukup tower as well. We are running regular round bar concaves in a case combine, 8250 with a 50' macdon. I demoed a AF 9 and the longer rotor had less loss. For oats the 50' head on a 8250 is plenty big. I usually run 2.5-3.0 mph with it. Seems like the openness of the round bars lets material out better and less oats go out the back tied up in the straw. Store the oats in a bin with a fan and run it. Especially if you haven't ran them through a dryer. Have to keep the sweat off. After that they store similar to corn. They do have more airflow resistance so make sure it is a bin with really good fans or only fill it 2/3 full if fans are lacking.
Baling straw is what it is. Watch the weather if you will attempt it and be prepared to flip it a few times to get it dried out. It doesn't work well to bale after cutting the oats wet. We just spread it with the combine. The rotor and internal straw chopper on a case make for a tight windrow. that doesn't dry out. Nice straw for bedding if you do though.
We have been double cropping sorghum or soybeans after the oats. The double crop can be certified at the FSA office if you get them planted before July 15th. My double crop beans have been averaging about 25 bpa. very weather dependent. Grazing sorghum is more consistent or even harvesting for forage since it sounds like you have livestock.
Know your market and what your goals are for the crop. Different practices are needed for different markets and goals.
We sure don't know everything and learn every year. This post has way more "I" statements then "I" would like**** and is too long but is what has worked for us. There is a facebook group called "Oat Mafia" that has a group of guys with alot of oat growing experience in SE MN and N IA.
Edit (spelling and punctuation)
Edited by Green Acres Guy 1/1/2026 10:47
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Growing oats, good oats
