Here in Western NY, I can attest that oats are not grown for grain as much as they were when I started my career 30 years ago. Most of the oats here go to horse feed for our amish community. Even organic growers have gotten away from them.
We have been in a weather pattern the last number of years where the springs have been too wet to plant oats timely which is important for yield and summer annual grass weed control.
Technically spraying oats with glyphosate pre-harvest is off label but there is no doubt it is done. What would really push farms to diversifying their rotations is to make growing corn less profitable by getting rid of subsidies: ethanol, crop insurance, disaster payments, etc.
I really enjoy your writing even though it is often critical of the agricultural industry I am part of.
Not a direct comment - we put clover and rye seed on our little 2 acres and it has made a huge difference in the variety of life we see. It’s a good reminder that the earth will generate intelligently and with wisdom if we have the courage to be the same.
It’s disheartening to realize how bad things are and that it’s going to get worse before we can turn the tide. I worked as a farmhand for two summers while in undergrad. What a treasured experience 🚜 that had me clean out a 20 sow farrowing house among other farm work. My second thought on your explanation of the drop in Iowa oat acreage was where are farmers getting the needed straw? 🤔
My first non political job out of Law School was as a contractor for the Iowa Department of Soil Conservation where I drafted the first 5 year strategic plan under the Resources Conservation Act. As I look back based upon my experience with Federal Agencies’ strategic plans, the 1979 plan was pretty weak but pointed in the right direction ✊.
Why hasn’t more been accomplished for environmental sustainability? You mention the Ag Industrial complex, but somehow we need to make inroads to the voters that support the politicians who support the Ag Industrial Complex. Those voters are fundamentalists, self professed, but extremely motivated by fear of everlasting Hell 😳 a pretty motivating get out the vote 🗳️ effort 🤨
I don’t have much of an idea how to change these folks’ heart from fear to love 🤔 I so appreciate you and others speaking truth to power ✊ Thank you! 💚💚
Hi Chris, please reach out to us at Green Acres Milling. We are working to reintroduce oats in southern Mn and northern Iowa with a farmer owned oat mill. Providing healthier food to consumers while improving our environmental sustainability.
The whole Iowa ag industry should rally behind Chris Jones and have him lead our state’s conversion to sustainable ag. I once asked him if that’s possible without today’s farmers taking a major hit to their income. His answer: “Of course.” He knows the way, and in this delightful column, he’s telling us what one part of the plan could be. (P.S. If our new President is Ralph Kramden, what’s the role of Art Carney?)
I did not realize the benefit of oats to the environment, thanks. I think if Charles Grassley was getting a subsidy for oats instead of corn and beans it would be implemented immediately. I do remember harvesting oats running a pull-behind Oliver combine in the 1960's with my Dad. That balky machine seemed determined to burn up belts and bearings at an alarming rate and an afternoon scoop-shoveling itchy oats around a Grainery seemed punishment, but oats was part of our crop rotation, I think.
Thanks, Chris, for this "solution-staring-us-right-in-the-face" story. As always, you have the facts, and each graphic is truly worth 1 000 words.
(And as inspiration to keep telling the truth, Chris, remember that for every single comment you see here (23 at my count) there are 100 others who agree but don't post a response.)
Thanks for explaining this. I've gotta believe there's a great opportunity here for the right people. Oats also supply straw as a secondary income source.
We grew oats for decades, oats to feed the sows while nursing and straw for bedding. Some were underserved with clover for the set said program the following year or haying or grazing. Without sows, oats were a cash crop. Grown solo, test weight and yield improves, clean straw sells well, especially to landscapers. The straw income sometimes is more than the oats. The lower test weight for oats allows loading semi hoppers full, you have to stomp them in, because they are a bit fluffy, it’s like smashing grapes at a winery!
Oats aren’t risk free, they should be plant in the early spring, even before the last freeze, March is best, but April will work, they like cool weather, it’s not always a good for planting if winter is late leaving or the spring is wet. They like dry weather when there is less disease pressure. When harvest approaches in July, a bad thunderstorm can ruin the crop. The straw can be ruined with rain too. Marketing is as easy as calling the coop either.
I remember dad talking about gassing up the horses with oats. Now that horses have left the field, it’s time to gas up the folks who work for a living.
Thank you for your writing about oats and Iowa. I was born and partially grew up in the Driftless Area of NE Iowa and still have many, many relatives farming in the area (we left the farm & moved to the big city when I was very young). During my formative years I spent my summers working for an uncle as his hired man where I learned a lot about farming. He had dairy cows, pigs & sows, & chickens. As such, crops were rotated on all fields: oats to hay to corn and then oats again. All crops were used as feed for the animals. Due to some hilly acres, he used assistance from the NRCS to eventually place those hills into field strips to prevent erosion; prior to that process everything was in the typical field design: square or rectangle for ease of working the fields with machinery. It was during combining I learned a lot about oats and its weight. During a cooler spring and decent early summer days/nights, the oat plants yielded heavier oats, just as you mentioned. How did I know and learn this? My uncle would always check the weight by taking a handful of the grains and know if they were relatively heavy or the opposite. The cause? He pointed out the hot early summer days as the plants were seeding out caused a much lighter grain. Thus, I was happy to see your reference to the research being conducted by PFI to update me/us on what can be done to counter the problem of the development of lighter weight oats. (Have they found a way to prevent the rust-issue within oat development? If I recall, caused by too much moisture/rain at the wrong time of development.) Because I had two brothers who spent their careers working at Quaker Oats, I did know that Quaker imported nearly all their oats from Canada because of a heavier, thus denser, quality of grain. I am also glad to hear that more oats is being raised by organic farmers. Perhaps if more rotational cropping returned there would be less need for the use of herbicides! Also, perhaps more double-cropping will occur with oats and perhaps beans or corn to change the problem with nitrates since, as you quite often mention, nothing so far seems to be decreasing the amount of nitrogen finding its way into our streams and aquifers!
Great information, thanks! Double cropping is definitely a possibility and that opportunity will only increase with warming. Thanks for this thoughtful comment
Read my reply to Bruce. 'Increase in warming' only makes it less possibility. Of course what do I know, oh yes I have had a little hands on, and $$ loss doing it.
I tried double cropping sb after winter wheat yrs ago, wheat mature s before oats by couple weeks usually. It was usually about 2nd week July. No till drilled SB into the hard dry soil. Sometimes sb laid there for couple weeks in the hot sun. If got lucky and got a rain some did germinate and emerge though population was varied in areas. The plants never got very big, when weeds started to come decision had to be made if it was cost effective to spray a herbicide. With July and August weather they struggled. By harvest time it was often not worth the cost to harvest them.
You might find this podcast from Damian Mason where he interviews a couple of Canadian Farmers about growing oats interesting. https://youtu.be/kOE0ygdqND0?feature=shared
Here in Western NY, I can attest that oats are not grown for grain as much as they were when I started my career 30 years ago. Most of the oats here go to horse feed for our amish community. Even organic growers have gotten away from them.
We have been in a weather pattern the last number of years where the springs have been too wet to plant oats timely which is important for yield and summer annual grass weed control.
Technically spraying oats with glyphosate pre-harvest is off label but there is no doubt it is done. What would really push farms to diversifying their rotations is to make growing corn less profitable by getting rid of subsidies: ethanol, crop insurance, disaster payments, etc.
I really enjoy your writing even though it is often critical of the agricultural industry I am part of.
Iowa oat fields also used to raise a LOT of pheasants!
Not a direct comment - we put clover and rye seed on our little 2 acres and it has made a huge difference in the variety of life we see. It’s a good reminder that the earth will generate intelligently and with wisdom if we have the courage to be the same.
Chris Jones for Governor! 👍🏽✊🗳️🗳️🗳️
It’s disheartening to realize how bad things are and that it’s going to get worse before we can turn the tide. I worked as a farmhand for two summers while in undergrad. What a treasured experience 🚜 that had me clean out a 20 sow farrowing house among other farm work. My second thought on your explanation of the drop in Iowa oat acreage was where are farmers getting the needed straw? 🤔
My first non political job out of Law School was as a contractor for the Iowa Department of Soil Conservation where I drafted the first 5 year strategic plan under the Resources Conservation Act. As I look back based upon my experience with Federal Agencies’ strategic plans, the 1979 plan was pretty weak but pointed in the right direction ✊.
Why hasn’t more been accomplished for environmental sustainability? You mention the Ag Industrial complex, but somehow we need to make inroads to the voters that support the politicians who support the Ag Industrial Complex. Those voters are fundamentalists, self professed, but extremely motivated by fear of everlasting Hell 😳 a pretty motivating get out the vote 🗳️ effort 🤨
I don’t have much of an idea how to change these folks’ heart from fear to love 🤔 I so appreciate you and others speaking truth to power ✊ Thank you! 💚💚
Hi Chris, please reach out to us at Green Acres Milling. We are working to reintroduce oats in southern Mn and northern Iowa with a farmer owned oat mill. Providing healthier food to consumers while improving our environmental sustainability.
Thank you for making sense of a complex topic. Let the oat revolution begin!
Great column. Hoping that Ralph's "honeymoon" will be over soon!
and Musk playing Ed Norton is also inspired casting
The whole Iowa ag industry should rally behind Chris Jones and have him lead our state’s conversion to sustainable ag. I once asked him if that’s possible without today’s farmers taking a major hit to their income. His answer: “Of course.” He knows the way, and in this delightful column, he’s telling us what one part of the plan could be. (P.S. If our new President is Ralph Kramden, what’s the role of Art Carney?)
Art Carney, ie-Elon Musk
I think Ed Norton was a lot smarter than Musk unfortunately
Thanks Chuck!
IF his way is so good why doesn't he buy/rent farm ground and show how to do it and make and be profitable enough to raise a family??
Cereal killer for sure. Seems the more obvious and simple a solution is the more unlikely it will happen these days—it’s the Midas touch in reverse.
I did not realize the benefit of oats to the environment, thanks. I think if Charles Grassley was getting a subsidy for oats instead of corn and beans it would be implemented immediately. I do remember harvesting oats running a pull-behind Oliver combine in the 1960's with my Dad. That balky machine seemed determined to burn up belts and bearings at an alarming rate and an afternoon scoop-shoveling itchy oats around a Grainery seemed punishment, but oats was part of our crop rotation, I think.
Good story!
Thanks, Chris, for this "solution-staring-us-right-in-the-face" story. As always, you have the facts, and each graphic is truly worth 1 000 words.
(And as inspiration to keep telling the truth, Chris, remember that for every single comment you see here (23 at my count) there are 100 others who agree but don't post a response.)
Thanks for explaining this. I've gotta believe there's a great opportunity here for the right people. Oats also supply straw as a secondary income source.
remove a lot of nutrients when taking off straw and have to be replaces with commercial fertilizer or manure
We grew oats for decades, oats to feed the sows while nursing and straw for bedding. Some were underserved with clover for the set said program the following year or haying or grazing. Without sows, oats were a cash crop. Grown solo, test weight and yield improves, clean straw sells well, especially to landscapers. The straw income sometimes is more than the oats. The lower test weight for oats allows loading semi hoppers full, you have to stomp them in, because they are a bit fluffy, it’s like smashing grapes at a winery!
Oats aren’t risk free, they should be plant in the early spring, even before the last freeze, March is best, but April will work, they like cool weather, it’s not always a good for planting if winter is late leaving or the spring is wet. They like dry weather when there is less disease pressure. When harvest approaches in July, a bad thunderstorm can ruin the crop. The straw can be ruined with rain too. Marketing is as easy as calling the coop either.
thanks for that comment. Great information!
Excellent statement of the problem and the solution!
I remember dad talking about gassing up the horses with oats. Now that horses have left the field, it’s time to gas up the folks who work for a living.
Thank you for your writing about oats and Iowa. I was born and partially grew up in the Driftless Area of NE Iowa and still have many, many relatives farming in the area (we left the farm & moved to the big city when I was very young). During my formative years I spent my summers working for an uncle as his hired man where I learned a lot about farming. He had dairy cows, pigs & sows, & chickens. As such, crops were rotated on all fields: oats to hay to corn and then oats again. All crops were used as feed for the animals. Due to some hilly acres, he used assistance from the NRCS to eventually place those hills into field strips to prevent erosion; prior to that process everything was in the typical field design: square or rectangle for ease of working the fields with machinery. It was during combining I learned a lot about oats and its weight. During a cooler spring and decent early summer days/nights, the oat plants yielded heavier oats, just as you mentioned. How did I know and learn this? My uncle would always check the weight by taking a handful of the grains and know if they were relatively heavy or the opposite. The cause? He pointed out the hot early summer days as the plants were seeding out caused a much lighter grain. Thus, I was happy to see your reference to the research being conducted by PFI to update me/us on what can be done to counter the problem of the development of lighter weight oats. (Have they found a way to prevent the rust-issue within oat development? If I recall, caused by too much moisture/rain at the wrong time of development.) Because I had two brothers who spent their careers working at Quaker Oats, I did know that Quaker imported nearly all their oats from Canada because of a heavier, thus denser, quality of grain. I am also glad to hear that more oats is being raised by organic farmers. Perhaps if more rotational cropping returned there would be less need for the use of herbicides! Also, perhaps more double-cropping will occur with oats and perhaps beans or corn to change the problem with nitrates since, as you quite often mention, nothing so far seems to be decreasing the amount of nitrogen finding its way into our streams and aquifers!
Double cropping wheat and sb is common in Illinois and points east so I don’t know. Your experience is what it is.
Great information, thanks! Double cropping is definitely a possibility and that opportunity will only increase with warming. Thanks for this thoughtful comment
Read my reply to Bruce. 'Increase in warming' only makes it less possibility. Of course what do I know, oh yes I have had a little hands on, and $$ loss doing it.
I tried double cropping sb after winter wheat yrs ago, wheat mature s before oats by couple weeks usually. It was usually about 2nd week July. No till drilled SB into the hard dry soil. Sometimes sb laid there for couple weeks in the hot sun. If got lucky and got a rain some did germinate and emerge though population was varied in areas. The plants never got very big, when weeds started to come decision had to be made if it was cost effective to spray a herbicide. With July and August weather they struggled. By harvest time it was often not worth the cost to harvest them.