Oat Hay Variety Trial
R.L. Dovel, J. Rainey, and G. Chilcote 1
Oat hay is an important commodity in
the Klamath Basin. An increasing acreage of
oat hay is being produced in the basin. Oat hay
variety trials were conducted at KES in 1989
and 1990. Since that time, several new oat
varieties have been released for grain
production and some oat varieties have been
released specifically for hay production. Oat
hay variety trials were established at KES in
1994, 1995, and 1996 to provide growers with
information needed to make variety selection
decisions. Both forage yield and quality of
commercially available oat varieties were
examined.
Plots were harvested when Magnum oat
plants reached the soft dough stage in 1994. In
1995, there were two harvest dates. Plots that
were in the soft dough stage were harvested on
August 10. All remaining plots were harvested
on August 23. Only one harvest was taken in
1996, on August 1. Prior to harvest, plots were
trimmed to 17 feet long. The crop was
harvested using a flail harvester with a threefoot wide head. All yields were reported on a
dry weight basis. Subsamples were collected
and analyzed for forage quality measured as
acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent
fiber (NDF), crude protein (CP), and relative
feed value (RFV), using a near-infrared
reflectance spectrophotometer.
Procedure
Results
The trials were established at KES on
Fordney fine sandy loam that is moderately
deep and somewhat poorly drained. The
previous crop was potatoes. The crop was
irrigated by a solid-set sprinkler system. The
trials were arranged in a randomized complete
block design with four replications. Seed was
planted April 20, 1994, May 23, 1995, and May
10, 1996. Seed was planted to a depth of 1 inch
at a seeding rate of 100 lb/acre. All plots were
fertilized with 50 lb N, 62 lb P205, and 37 lb
S/acre at time of seeding. Plots measured 5 x 20
feet with a row spacing of 6 inches.
Bromoxynil and MCPA were applied at labeled
rates to control broadleaf weeds.
Trial variability was high in 1994, making
variety separation difficult. The highest
yielding variety, Magnum, was not significantly
different from eight other varieties (Table 1).
The only two entries with significantly lower
yield than Magnum in 1994 were Magnum II
and Dusty. These two varieties are early
maturing while Magnum is a late maturing
variety. Harvesting all entries when Magnum
was at soft dough resulted in the early varieties
reaching stages too advanced for optimal
production. This is reflected in the lower CP
and higher fiber content of the earlier maturing
varieties.
Introduction
1/
150
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Research Technician III, and Research Technician,
respectively, Klamath Experiment Station, Klamath Falls, OR.
Klamath Experiment Station
In 1995, Westford hooded barley and
Byrd were the two highest yielding entries in
the trial (Table 2). They produced significantly
higher forage yields than the five lowest
yielding entries. The trial was harvested when
most varieties were in the soft dough stage in
1995. Dusky, the earliest maturing oat variety
in the trial, was harvested on August 10 with
the hooded barley entries (Table 2). All other
oat varieties were harvested on August 23 when
the majority of oat entries were at soft dough.
Magnum, a late maturing variety, was not yet at
the soft dough stage and yields were suppressed
when compared to the previous year. When
Dusky was harvested at an appropriate stage in
1995, it yielded much better than in 1994 and
also produced better forage quality values. It
appears that Dusky would be a good oat variety
for short-season oat hay production. The
hooded barley entries would also be excellent
choices for short-season cereal hay production.
Forage yields were even lower in 1996
than in 1995, due to frost damage and uneven
irrigation distribution (Table 3). Ensiler, a
newly released forage variety, was the highest
producer in 1996. Entries that were not
significantly different from Ensiler include
Byrd, 83Ab3250, Magnum 2000, and Border.
Cayuse was the lowest producing entry in the
trial in 1996.
151
Forage quality was highest in 1995. This
is due largely to harvesting at a more
appropriate time in 1995, while harvest was
delayed past the appropriate time for many
varieties in 1994 and 1996. Average crude
protein concentration in the 1995 trial was 10.0
percent compared to 7.3 and 8.9 percent in
1994 and 1996, respectively. ADF, which is a
predictor of forage digestibility, and thus
animal performance, averaged 35.0 in 1995
compared to 41.3 and 38.5 in 1994 and 1995,
indicating that feeding oat hay produced in the
1995 trial would result in the best animal
performance (lower ADF values indicate higher
quality).
Minimum nutritional requirements for a
dry pregnant cow in the middle third of
pregnancy are 7.0 percent crude protein and
48.6 percent TDN, which corresponds to 55
percent ADF. Oat hay produced in all three
years was adequate to meet the energy needs of
a dry cow, but hay from 1994 was only
marginally adequate in crude protein. Crude
protein concentration of some varieties
dropped below minimum levels in 1994. The
variability in forage quality between varieties
and between years illustrates the need for
forage testing when purchasing hay, even oat
hay to feed dry cows.
Klamath Experiment Station
Table 1. 1994 Oat Hay Variety Trial. Forage yield, dry matter, and forage quality of oat
varieties grown at Klamath Experiment Station, Klamath Falls, OR, 1994.
Variety or
Selection
Dry
Yield--
ton/A
matter Protein
rank
%
%
ADF
NDF
RFV
Cayuse
6.8
2
31
7.3
40.2
58.3
92
Border
6.3
4
29
8.6
38.8
55.6
99
Ajay
5.9
7
29
7.5
39.0
57.9
95
Magnum 11
5.7
10
33
6.9
42.3
61.4
85
83Ab3250
5.8
9
25
7.2
41.0
59.2
90
Rio Grande
5.8
8
31
6.6
42.5
61.6
84
Monida
6.1
5
26
7.8
41.0
59.5
91
Magnum
7.3
1
29
8.8
38.5
57.0
97
Byrd (B-3)
5.0
12
27
7.2
43.7
63.9
80
Dusky (DU-1)
5.5
11
33
6.7
44.2
64.6
79
Magnum 11
6.0
6
25
6.4
44.4
63.3
80
Otana
6.8
3
29
7.2
39.4
57.3
95
Mean
6.1
29
7.3
41.3
60.0
89
18.7
16.2
19.7
8.8
7.8
13
1.5
6.8
2.1
5.2
6.6
17
CV (%)
LSD (0.05)
152
Klamath Experiment Station
Table 2. 1995 Oat Hay Variety Trial. Forage yield, thy matter, and forage quality of oat
varieties grown at Klamath Experiment Station, Klamath Falls, OR, 1995.
Variety or
Selection
Dry
Yield
ton/A
matter
Protein
ADF
rank
%
%
%
NDF
RFV
%
Cayuse
4.5
9
37
9.3
35.6
52.1
109
Border
3.9
15
40
9.5
35.5
52.9
108
Ajay
4.4
11
34
10.6
34.0
50.7
115
Magnum 2000 (Magnum II)
4.0
14
33
9.6
37.6
55.8
100
83Ab3250
4.6
5
34
10.3
33.3
50.4
116
Rio Grande (81Ab5792)
4.6
6
33
10.1
34.8
49.8
116
Monida
4.5
10
34
9.8
34.5
51.9
111
Magnum
4.5
7
35
9.5
36.0
53.3
107
Byrd (B-3)
5.0
1
38
9.2
35.5
51.6
111
Dusky (DU-1)
4.7
3
30
10.6
34.8
52.9
109
Otana
4.5
8
38
9.1
36.1
53.7
106
Park
4.3
13
34
10.3
36.2
53.7
105
Ogle
4.3
12
33
9.8
37.4
53.4
104
Westford (Barley)
5.0
2
34
10.7
34.1
51.9
112
Belford (Barley)
3.5
16
36
10.0
31.2
50.0
121
WA 7999-88 (Barley)
4.6
4
28
11.3
34.0
53.0
110
Mean
4.4
34
10.0
35.0
52.3
110
13.3
9
10.2
6.2
5.2
7.6
NS
8
1.5
3.1
NS
NS
CV (%)
LSD (0.05) '
Klamath Experiment Station
153
Table 3. 1996 Oat Hay Variety Trial. Forage yield, dry matter, and forage quality of
oat varieties grown at Klamath Experiment Station, Klamath Falls, OR, 1996.
Variety or
Selection
Dry
Yield
matter
Protein
ADF
NDF RFV
ton/A
rank
Cayuse
2.5
14
47
7.6
41.9
62.5
84
Border
3.7
5
38
9.7
36.9
55.7
101
Ajay
3.0
12
55
8.7
39.5
59.5
91
Magnum 2000 (Magnum II)
3.9
4
37
9.6
37.9
58.3
95
83Ab3250
4.2
3
32
9.7
36.0
54.6
104
Rio Grande (81Ab5792)
3.1
10
36
8.4
39.1
59.1
92
Monida
3.4
8
32
10.1
35.8
54.8
104
Magnum
3.3
9
44
9.2
37.9
58.2
95
Byrd (B-3)
4.2
2
51
8.6
40.3
60.3
89
Dusky (DU-1)
3.5
7
46
8.1
41.4
63.4
84
Stampede
3.6
6
43
9.8
38.4
59.0
93
Bay
3.1
11
43
8.0
38.8
57.9
95
Ensiler
4.8
1
37
8.2
38.6
57.6
95
Westford (Barley)
2.9
13
45
9.2
36.5
56.2
100
Mean
3.5
42
8.9
38.5
58.4
95
22.6
22
13.9
4.7
5.1
7.2
1.1
13
NS
2.6
4.2
10
CV (%)
LSD (0.05)
154
Klamath Experiment Station