Oats: A crop with more value than the market realises

Oats continues to be one of Ireland’s most dependable tillage crops, writes Teagasc crops specialist Ciaran Collins, but is it time the market responded to the benefits?

One of the biggest misconceptions in the livestock sector is that oats are inferior to barley or maize as a finishing feed.

Oats are one of the great success stories of Irish tillage. It delivers high nutritional value for both humans and livestock, it suits our climate perfectly, and it consistently produces reliable yields.

Yet this season, many tillage farmers are understandably asking why demand has dropped so sharply. Grain merchants are even considering exporting oats again — not due to a boom in international demand, but rather insufficient demand to use the oats already in the system.