Two new oat varieties showing promise

Oats are one of the crops of the season this year. They are looking impressive and have performed well for many in recent years. New varieties are on the way to the market.

WPB Enya is an up-and-coming spring oat variety.

It has 12% of winter seed availability this year (see Figure 1) and 17% of the spring seed area (see Figure 2). The first seed crop was grown in Mogeely, Co Cork, in 2023, according to John Dunne, and it yielded 44t from 11ac, at 20% moisture content. That’s 4.4t/ac. Its KPH was 53.

It has good vigour and is ahead of WPB Isabel for reliability in autumn.

WPB Isabel remains a strong variety. It scores a seven for resistance to brackling in the winter and an eight in spring. It scores a seven for resistance to lodging in winter and spring. It scores a five for resistance to both crown rust and mildew. It takes up 17% of the winter oat seed area this year and 23% of the spring area.

Husky takes up the majority of the winter oats seed area at 71%. Husky will take up 58% of the spring seed area. Husky has been recommended as a winter variety since 2010 and a spring variety since 2009.

It had a relative yield of 102 on this year’s winter oats recommended list and a KPH of 57.9. On the spring list, it had a relative yield score of 99 and a KPH of 58.

Organic oat seed is currently being grown for Husky and subject to quality tests at harvest, there will be organic certified Husky seed available for the 2024/2025 season.

Titant is another new variety in the spring oats market. It takes up 2% of the seed area for spring oats. Titant is reported to have good disease resistance. It is shorter in height than Husky.