What is feed oats and features of its cultivation

Over the centuries, people have found forage oats many applications, but the main area is feed. What are the advantages of a common grain crop, is it necessary to include it in the diet of animals, how to grow it - we will tell in the article.

What is feed oats

Feed oats, unlike food oats, are intended for livestock and poultry feed. The fodder qualities of the cereal are determined by GOST - it is almost impossible to distinguish fodder grain from ordinary grain by its appearance.

History of appearance

Oats began to be processed in the second millennium BC. Mongolia and the northern provinces of China are considered its homeland, but traces of it are also seen in Scotland, Denmark and England, where it was used as a food product during the Bronze Age.

As exclusively fodder, the Romans and Greeks used it, but the ancient Germans and Slavs firmly fixed it in their diet, making pastries, cereals, jelly.

Description and characteristics

Oats are grown mainly for livestock, poultry and pigs. Only 2% of grain is used in cooking, despite the fact that in terms of nutritional properties it surpasses many of the products we are used to. In general, culture remains underestimated.

It is grown mainly in the northern hemisphere. The farm distinguishes between its spring and winter variants, as well as scarious and bare-grain.

What is its advantage

Oats contain such essential amino acids as arginine, lysine, threonine, tyrosine, leucine and others. The culture is irreplaceable as feed for horses, it is the basis of their diet, which animals can consume in unlimited quantities. The price for it is significantly lower than for other types of feed grain - an average of 7-9 rubles / kg.

Reference. Oats are a powerful source of energy. It must be included in the diet of animals employed in the household or regularly participating in competitions.

What is different from the usual

The main difference is quality... The norms of food and feed grains differ significantly. Darkened grains, high humidity, a higher rate of contamination and impurities of foreign grain are acceptable for feed. Infection with ticks is allowed, but not higher than the first degree. However, the same requirements for smell and color are imposed on forage.

Economic use

In addition to being used as feed, hay and silage, oats are used in medicine for the manufacture of medicines and tinctures used for hepatitis, diabetes, tuberculosis, asthenia and various diseases of the nervous system.

In cooking, surrogate coffee, oat milk, flour for bakery products, cereals and jelly are made from oats. Kvass, beer, mash, and sometimes vodka are made from oats.

Chemical composition, trace elements and calories

The features of the composition depend on the environment in which the oats grew, but the general indicators of the components remain unchanged (the mass of the components is presented per 100 g of oats):

• proteins - 10.1 g, less than 15%;
• fats - 4.7 g, no more than 11%;
• carbohydrates - 57.8 g, including starch - 36.1 g, up to 45%;
• manganese, iron and zinc in approximately equal proportions (from 3 to 6 g);
• calcium, copper, sodium, etc.

Oats contain B vitamins, folic acid and vitamin E. The value of the grain is also given by an extensive list of amino acids, in the amount of which oats have no equal:

• arginine - 850 mg;
• histidine - 270 mg;
• isoleucine - 560 mg;
• leucine - 1020 mg;
• lysine - 550 mg;
• methionine - 230 mg;
• phenylalanine - 700 mg;
• threonine - 490 mg;
• tryptophan - 190 mg;
• tyrosine - 450 mg;
• valine - 790 mg.

The calorie content of feed oats is approximately 316 kcal per 100 g.

Who can be fed with feed oats

Oat grain can be safely given to horses, pigs, small and cattle, poultry. Organisms of all herbivores perfectly assimilate and digest this food. It can be made the main part of the diet, or it can be included partially.

Attention! Don't go overboard with oats for pigs: if animals are raised for slaughter, it gives their meat some bitterness.

Growing features

Daily monitoring is not required if the seeds are prepared and the plants are watered on time. You also have to keep an eye on the weeds.

Choosing a landing site

Oats are unpretentious and assimilate minerals even from the most lean soils, only solonetzic soils are poorly tolerated. The most successful option would be an acidic earth with a pH of no more than 5-6.

It is also important to maintain soil moisture for successful plant development.... Therefore, in regions with an arid climate, it is better to provide a regular watering system.

Soil preparation

If, before planting oats, beets or corn were grown on the site, they do fall plowing of the land, if other types of agricultural plants, ordinary plowing to a depth of 25 cm is sufficient.

If the soil acidity is too high, it will be necessary to fertilize the soil with phosphate rock in a ratio of 40-60 kg / ha. Peat soil is fertilized with manganese, boron and copper additives at the rate of 20-25 kg / ha. You can use pyrite cinders in the amount of 300-400 kg / ha.

Seed preparation

Select for sowing dense, healthy seeds, without visible damage and darkening. Immediately before the planting procedure, soak the grains for 15 minutes in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection.

Landing scheme and technology

The most favorable period for sowing in the ground is late April or early May.

Important! It is not worth delaying planting even for several days - this can reduce the yield by a quarter of the possible mass.

Oats are sown in narrow rows so that there are 4 - 5.5 million seeds per hectare of field. The average recommended seed burial depth is 4 cm, but for light soils it increases to 6 cm, and in arid regions even up to 7 cm.

Treatment against diseases and pests

The most common concern for oats is the fly smut and fly smut. Other pests and diseases are extremely rare. The most common methods of struggle:

1. Winter plowing... Prevents reproduction of many pests, including stem flies. It is carried out in late August or the first half of September, to a depth of 20-22 cm, and 2-3 cm higher in spring.
2. Cultivation. Good prevention against stem pests.
3. From the swedish fly drugs such as "Bazudin", "VE", "Zolon", "CE" and other similar insecticides help well.
4. Fertilizers. In the treated areas, the process of mineralization of organic residues is accelerated, and there are fewer root rot pathogens in the soil due to the early coarsening of stem tissues. Phosphate fertilizers, for example, granular superphosphate in a proportion of 10-20 kg / ha, cope with the task especially well.
5. Heat treatment of seeds. It is used to prevent the appearance of a dust smut.

Care features

A lot of fertilizers are not required - oats grow well without them. It is enough just to control the nitrogen balance in the soil - the plant does not like it and, due to the excess, can bring the worst harvest. If, nevertheless, nitrogen is required, fertilize in a proportion of 70-90 kg / ha.

It is necessary to ensure a stable soil moisture of at least 60% - oats constantly need moisture and do not tolerate drought. If possible, the soil is loosened, harrowed.

Harvested 120 days after planting.

Read also:

Save yourself from cholesterol with oats.

Hercules, oatmeal and oats are the same or is there a difference?

Why oats are useful for diabetes and how to use it correctly.

Tips and tricks for growing and using feed oats

If you are interested in a rich harvest, heed the professional advice:

1. Sow oats crosswise (distance between rows 15 cm) or narrow-row (distance 6-8 m).
2. After sowing, rolling is carried out using ring-spur rollers.
3. When a soil crust appears, harrowing is carried out - shortly before germination and during tillering, it is better to do it across the rows.
4. The most successful predecessors for oats are corn, pulses and winter crops. Undesirable - beets, as it dries the soil and after it requires loosening and abundant moisture.

Conclusion

Caring for oats is simple, it is enough to maintain soil moisture and protect plants from diseases. The cultivation of fodder oats can be treated with less scrupulousness than table oats, but we must not forget that animals also need quality food.

Oat feed is a source of protein, essential amino acids and energy for livestock and poultry.