A collaboration between Cereals Canada and AAFC is helping to ensure that Canadian oats continue to meet evolving customer demands while reinforcing Canada’s position as a trusted and innovative leader in oat production.
As the world’s largest exporter of high-quality oats, Canada produces over 3.6 million tonnes annually. Canadian oats supply three primary markets: milling oats for human consumption; performance, or “pony,” oats, used mainly as feed for high-end race or competitive horses; and high-yielding feed oat varieties.
Oat Research at Cereals Canada
Cereals Canada is leading a multi-year research study (2024-2028), characterizing Canadian oat quality to better understand how environmental conditions during the growing season influence quality differences among varieties. The genotype by environment (GxE) study evaluates three oat varieties grown in two locations over three growing seasons. This activity will expand the technical team’s knowledge on oat quality characteristics and provide insight on year-to-year variation in oat quality.
In the first year of the study, Cereals Canada purchased a laboratory oat dehuller and benchtop grinder to dehull the oats and produce oat flour for further evaluation. A lab-scale heat treatment (kilning) protocol was developed, and methods for evaluating oat quality were established. Analysis of the first-year field trial samples was also initiated.
In the second year, the quality evaluation of oats grown in 2024 was completed and assessment of the 2025 crop began. Growing conditions in both 2024 and 2025 were hot and dry, contributing to decreased test weight across all samples; however, timely rains in 2025 led to improved test weight compared to 2024.
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