Guide to oat production in South Dakota discusses rotation, soil fertility, seedbed preparation,  time to seeding, method and rate of seeding, use of good seed, seed treatment, weed control, harvesting and storing, marketing, diseases, and selection of the best varieties with recommendations

Sanderson, Elmer E.

Wood, Leon S.

English

Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange

South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange SDSU Extension Fact Sheets SDSU Extension 1967 Oat Production in South Dakota Elmer E. Sanderson Leon S. Wood Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_fact Recommended Citation Sanderson, Elmer E. and Wood, Leon S., "Oat Production in South Dakota" (1967). SDSU Extension Fact Sheets. 1328. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_fact/1328 This Fact Sheet is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in SDSU Extension Fact Sheets by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu. Historic, archived doculllent Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. SDSU ® Extension For current policies and practices, contact SDSU Extension Website: extension.sdstate.edu Phone: Email: 605-688-4 792 sdsu.extension@sdstate.edu SDSU Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer in accordance with the nondiscrimination policies of South Dakota State University, the South Dakota Board of Regents and the United States Department of Agriculture. FS 384 Oat: n 1 Product:ion • 1n South Dakota Oat: Product:ion in Sout:h Dakot:a By Elmer E. Sanderson, Extension agronomist-crops, and Leon S. Wood, Extension Plant pathologist. South Dakota is a large oat producing state, but it's acreage has been gradually declining. The largest oat acreage was in 1954 when over 4 million acres were planted to oats. For the 5-year period of 1963-67, the average acreage was about 2½ million acres with an average annual production of nearly 92 million bushels. The oat crop has added considerably to South Dakota agriculture economy. Oats rank first in total acres among all small grain crops and is surpassed only by wheat in total valuation. Oats is produced both as a cash crop and as a feed crop. Usually oats has an economic advantage if used for livestock feed, and especially if used for hay or si-lage. Experiment Station agronomists found that the total digestible nutrients produced per acre can be doubled if the entire oat crop can be harvested as for-age and fed to livestock. OATS IN THE ROTATION Oats usually follows an intertilled or row crop that leaves the soil in condition to be prepared quickly for spring planting. The yield is greater following a row crop than following other small grain crops in the ro-tation. Since legumes and plant residues help main-tain soil productivity, the establishment of legumes is frequently accomplished using oats as a companion crop. RESPOND TO SOIL FERTILITY Oats, like all small grains, develops rapidly in the early spring when soil temperatures are cold. Under these conditions, the nitrogen release is low. If avail-able plant food is lacking, especially nitrogen, the oat plant will be yellow, short, and have few or no tillers. Under such conditions, grain quality may be good but the yield disappointing. This is especially true for ear-ly varieties which must make their growth earlier in the season than late varieties. Oats will respond to commercial fertilizers. There is some question as to whether the use of commercial fertilizers will always pay in the lower rainfall areas in western South Dakota. A soil test should be made to accurate! y determine soil fertility levels and plant food needs. SEEDBED PREPARATION Double disking and harrowing row crop land is a common method of preparing a seedbed for oats. This method is relative! y cheap, fast, and leaves 3 to 4 inch-es of loose, friable soil on the surface with firm soil be-neath. Spring plowing may give increased yields but is slow and more costly. All plowed lan<l should be pack-ed either before or ofter planting to prevent excessive moisture evaporation. Firm seedbeds are invaluable when drought conditions prevail. TIME OF SEEDING Oats shoul<l be seeded as soon as the soil can be properly worked with usual farming equipment. "Mudding in" before the surface soil has a chance to dry is not a good practice. METHOD AND RATE OF SEEDING Seeding with a grain drill is the best method. Drill-ing <listributes the seed evenly at a uniform depth in moist soil where conditions are favorable for germina-tion. Drilling is especially recommended for the drier areas. Broadcasting and disking-in is a cheaper seed-ing practice and can be justified on small acreages. Seed at the rate of 2 to 2½ bushels per acre. Western areas may even seed less than 2 bushels. Increase the rate slightly for broadcasting. USE GOOD SEED First requirement of a successful crop is to use pure seed, free of weed seed and of high germinating abil-ity. A good farmer will seed nothing else. Certified seed is your assurance of good seed. Research tests show that fully mature, plump, high test weight seed produces stronger seedlings with more rapid emergence than light weight seed. · Therefore, it is important to plant only good clean seed where plenty of wind has been used to remove light weight and diseased seeds. SEED TREATMENT Proper seed treatment with a recommended fungi-cide is often a good practice. Seed treatment controls both loose and covered smut of oats and can help con-trol certain other seed-borne and soil-borne diseases. More detailed information on seed treatment and rec-ommended fungicides are given in Fact Sheet 193 "Seed Treatment." The actual cost of seed treatment per acre is small. Except for small amounts of seed, custom treating has proved practical. For custom and home treat-ment, instructions on the seed treatment container as to rate and method of treatment should be followed carefully. Thorough mixing of the fungicide and seed is necessary to get good seed coverage and derive max-imum benefits from the treatment. WEED CONTROL Under normal rainfall conditions in South Dako-ta, you cannot expect to raise a weed crop and oat crop on the same field in the same year. A planned cultural weed control program should be practiced through-out the cropping rotation and should be supplement-ed with herbicides as needed. Most oat varieties are more tolerant to MCPA than to 2,4-D. General recom-mendations are to use one-third pound of 2,4-D acid in an ester or one-half pound in an amine form or one-half pound of MCPA acid per acre. Apply during the tolerant periods of growth which are usually between the 5-leaf and early boot stages. For complete informa-tion on spraying to control weeds in oats, variety toler-ance, and so on, consult your county agent or secure Fact Sheet "Weed Control in Small Grains." HARVESTING AND STORING Most of the oat acreage is harvested with a com-bine, either direct or from a windrow. Because of weeds, uneven ripening, shattering, and possible high moisture of the grain, the windrowing and combining method is most common in eastern oat producing counties. Highest quality grain is obtained by allow-ing the oats to mature and threshing as soon as the grain is dry enough for safe storage. The moisture con-tent of the grain should be 14% or less for safe storage. MARKETING THE OAT CROP Much of the oat crop is fed to livestock and then marketed in the form of livestock and livestock pro-ducts. This means of utilizing the oats is usually the most profitable. A very significant amount is marketed as a cash crop. Studying the cash oat market and selling when the price tends to be the highest, can increase the net pro.fit. Usually, the price is down at harvest time and for several months after harvest. In order to take advantage of peak oat prices at certain seasons, it means some form of grain storage, either on the farm or at custom storage facilities. South Dakota oats is in demand as feed oats in several southern states and has become known as the "truck oat market." The market usually pays a size-able premium and starts in mid-winter and continues until near the next harvest season. Oat producers should not forget about the milling oat market as in some years there is a worthwhi1e premium paid for oats meeting the milling oat stand-ard. Good milling oats must possess certain quality factors, namely ( 1) low amount of foreign material, (2) freedom from mixture with other crops and (3) plump kernels with 36 pounds test weight or better. DISEASES Breeding new varieties is an .ever-continuing pro-cess, mainly because new disease troubles follow new varieties. Sometimes a disease may have been minor or previous! y unknown. On occasions, new races or vari-eties of well-known disease organisms or little-known races have increased and caused severe losses. Under such changing conditions, older varieties which were once popular may reappear and produce well until older diseases also return. Newer varieties generally are much more disease resistant than those of a gener-ation ago. Leaf Rust (Crown Rust) is usually the most seri-ous disease of oats in South Dakota. When severe, it causes lodging, light-weight kernels and low yields. Leaf rust races now prevalent in the United States con-sist of two groups: the older races to which many of the recommended varieties have moderately resistant to resistant reactions, and the new races (264, 295, and 326) to which most present varieties are all susceptible. Portal is resistant to Race 264. It cannot be predicted how rapidly these newer races will increase in impor-tance, but plant pathologists and plant breeders are hopeful of developing oat varieties resistant to these races. Attempts to stay one step ahead of the constant-ly changing development of leaf and stem rust races · accounts for the rather rapid change in oat varieties. ' Stem Rust has not been serious in South Dakota in recent years. Because stem rust has not caused severe damage to oats since 1957, there may be a tendency to overlook the importance of stem rust resistance for successful oat production in South Dakota. Stem rust could become important again if newly discovered sub races become widely distributed. Races 6A, and 6AF can attack all present available commercial vari-eties. If, or how rapidly, these races increase in impor-tance cannotbe predicted. Research workers in several , states have recently found sources of resistance in some breeding lines, and this resistance will be incorporated into commercial varieties as rapidly as possible. "Red Leaf" of oats, a Virus disease, was present in most areas of the state in· 1959 and reduced yields where infection was high early in the growing season. This disease has been minor since 1959, although in-sect carriers of the virus have been observed early in the growing season each year. All commercial oat varieties are susceptible; however, Brave and Jaycee have shown some field tolerance. Smut resistance is found in all recommended va-rieties. Some nonrecommended varieties including Ajax and Nodaway are susceptible to certain races. Smut-susceptible varieties should be seed treated for control of this disease. Halo blight, a bacterial leaf-spot disease, fre-quently is found early in the season. At first spots are yellow and later turn brown. The appearance of this disease on leaves often causes much concern. But the plants tend to outgrow the disease and the effect on yields is usually minor. SELECTING THE BEST VARIETY Selecting the best oat variety for a farm or for acer-tain field is an important decision. Growing an adapt-ed variety or varieties insures more stable production. Ignoring this principle often invites disappointments and causes fluctuations in farm income. Recommen-dations and variety descriptions given in this Fact Sheet should help South Dakota farmers to choose their varieties. There is no one variety of oats that is best for all areas or for all situations. Factors determining the se-lection of a variety are: ( 1) local climatic environ-ments such as elevation, normal expected rainfall, and temperature, (2) soil type, ( 3) soil fertility, ( 4) vari-etal performance, (5) market demand, and ( 6) crop use. VARIETY RECOMMENDATIONS The list of recommended varieties for South Da-kota ( table below) is based on reliable and impartial information obtained from Experiment Station tests conducted throughout the state. These recommenda-tions are based not only on yield but also on maturity, disease and insect resistance, straw strength, grain quality, market need, and so forth. Variety recom-mendations, according to "crop adaptation areas," are given in Fact Sheet "Field Crop Varieties in South Dakota" for the current year. The table gives the important characteristics of the more commonly grown oat varieties in South Dako-ta. The recommended group represents a list of good varieties adapted in one or more areas of the state. It is recognized that other varieties may have local interest and satisfactory performance. In some cases, vatieties not recommended may not be inferior to those recom-mended but may merely represent duplication of qualities already available. Secure these Fact Sheets for additional information on oats production: • Crop Variety Recommendations • Seed Treatment • Fertilizing Small Grains • Weed Control in Small Grains • Producing Milling Oats Publi shed and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Con-gres~ of May 8 and June 30, 1914 , by the Co9rerative Extension Services of South Dakota State University, Brookings, John T. Stone, Director, U.S . Department of Agriculture cooperating. BM-1-67-1 :4-2-Replaces FS 267-6948 Agronomic ~haracteristics and Stem and Leaf Rust Reactions Varieties Recommended Early-Maturity Dupree Jaycee Santee Tippecanoe Tyler Medium Early-Maturity Clintlan<l 64 Medium-Maturity Brave Burnett Coachman Holden Garlan<l Portal Late-Maturity Yielding Ability Medium Medium Me<lium Medium Medium Medium High High Medium High High High Bushel Weight Medium High Medium High High High Medium High High Medium High Medium Kelsey Excellent Medium Lodi , High Medium Rodney ,,<""1 / - 'i' ~ '-High ~ High Sioux Excellent Me<lium Varieties Not Recommended Early-Maturity Andrew Minhafer Neal Nodaway Ransom Medium Early-Maturity Clintford .. Clintland 60 O'Brien Medium-Maturity Dodge Marion Stormont Medium Late-Maturity Ajax Orbit Portage Sauk Late-Maturity Branch Harmon Garry Ortley Russell High Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium High High High High Medium High High High Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium High High Medium Medium Medium Medium Low Low Medium Medium Medium Low Medium High Medium 1Disease r~actions to the prevalent races of rust. Stem 1 Rust S" MR MS MS MS MR MR MR MR MR MR MR MR MR MR MR s MR MS MR MS MS MR MR MR s MR s MR MS s s MR MR MR MR Leaf1 Rust S" MS MS MS MS MR MS MS MS MR MR MR MR MR MS MS s MS s s s MS MS MR MR s MS s MR MR MS MS MS MS MS MR Plant Height Short Short Medium Short Short Medium Medium Med-Tall Medium Medium Med-Short Medium Med-Tall Tall Tall Tall Medium Medium Med-Short Medium Med-Short Med-Short Medium Med-Tall Me<lium Me<lium Medium Tall Me<lium Tall Tall Tall Tall ·Tall Tall Tall Lodging Resistance Medium Good Good Excellent Excellent Good Medium Good Good Good Goo<l Good Medium Excellent Good Medium Medium Good Good Good Medium Excellent Gho<l Good Good Medium Medium Medium Good Medium Medium Medium Medium Good Medium Medium 2R=Resistant; MR=Moderately Resistant ; MS==Moderately Susceptible; S=Susceptible. Seed Color White-Gray Yellowish-White Ivory Yellow Yellow-Tan Yellow Yellow Yellow-White Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow White White White White Yellow Yellow Ivory White Yellow Yellow-White Yellow Yellow Yellow Tan-White White White White White Yellow White White White White White I ~ n .o ;d .. ..... (D ' (A I J 

Oat Production in South Dakota

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Oat Production in South Dakota

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