Sia Oats? What Are They?

Anybody know anything about these new Sia Oats (not sure I am spelling that right)

I was told that they are a Hybrid and were developed for 3rd world countries. They supposedly grow in very poor soil, with no irrigation, and still produce a very good crop?

My seed supplier has a little bit of these left, and I think that I can get them...

Oh, and just a little update about the previous post. I talked with the boy that farmed this field 25 years ago (last time it was touched). He said that they put oats in on it, 160 lbs to the acre, and then put 200 lbs of 46-00 per acre! If I did my math right, I would be looking at $1000 for materials, and I might be able to get $2000 worth of hay off of the field.

Sounds pretty bad to me...

Him and I talked about Oats and Peas, and he said that that combination does very well up here, BUT he said that they quit growing them because they were so hard to cut with the swather, and were so dense that it took them nearly 2 weeks, and 6 rolls to get it dried out? He said that they were making 100 lb bales...

Any thought to that? Bryce

How many acres???

Also 200 LBS of 46-0-0 is just pure nitrogen. I would not be putting that much on just oats. They would get too tall and fall over.

5 acres. This guy (where I am farming) has 5, 5 acres (give or take a little) fields. This family up the road took them over when he stopped haying them. And the first two years they ran nothing but oats.

Our soil is pretty bad up here... Sia oats I have been told should NOT be fertilized, because with any wind, they would go down...

Agreed, all leaves, no grain.

Bryce, inputs are sky high, learn to expect it, and you will not grow anything without them.

I would not agree on NO fertilizer, I would look for P&K to build the roots and grain, but very little N.

Ok Bryce You do not say if your growing your oats for grain harvest or as hay??? That makes difference. Also are these Oats just going to be a cover crop for seeding the field to hay?? IF so what grasses/hay are you going to plant???

Some general things on planting oats:

Seeding rates:
Broadcasting seeding rate 70-90 Lbs. per care
Drilled seeding rate 60-80 Lbs. per acre

If your seeding hay/grasses under the oats then hold the seeding rate of the oats towards the lower end of the rates I posted.

Fertilizer:

I would apply 200 lbs. per acre of 9-23-30 per acre. This means you will need a 1000Lbs. total. This should cost between $250-300 total for the fertilizer.

If your going to harvest the oats as grain then you can up the rate of nitrogen some. This will help in grain production but not too much. I would not go over 70 lbs. of actual Nitrogen per acre for your poorer soils.

Now you also asked about Oats & Peas as a crop. They will grow fast and make tons per acre BUT they would be just about impossible to mow with a sickle bar mower. They also are hard to get to dry down enough to make small square bales of hay out of. So I would NOT recommend them for your operation.

I have grown them. 100% of the time I have chopped them as hayledge. I have seen fellows that try to put them up as dry hay and they have troubles.

If your long term plans are for this field to be a good hay field I would just seed good clean FEED grade oats. Then chose what ever grasses grow well in your area. Here that is Brome and Orchard grass.

Here is what I seed for a grass hay crop:

2 bushel or 64 lbs. per acre of oats.

For just a nurse crop for your hay these can just be CLEAN feed grade oats. You do not need High priced seed oats for harvesting them as hay.

10-12 Lbs. of Brome grass per acre.
12-15 Lbs. of Orchard Grass per acre.
These are drilled rates. If your broadcasting then increase them 50%.

Your seed bed does need to be pretty well worked. Meaning you need fine soil to have good seed/soil contact. Running a cultipacker after they are drilled or seeded helps greatly with helping get a good stand. IF you do not have a cultipacker even a yard roller will help.

You need to be getting your butt in gear if you want to seed oats/grasses this year. The earlier the better. I usually plant oats/grasses as early as I can work the ground without it being too wet. The reason is that you need to get the oats and grasses growing so they can take the heat of mid summer. If you plant too late the seedlings will be smaller and fewer will survive the summer heat.

I always try to have my oats planted before the first of April if at all possible.

One of the local guys that likes to think he is a BTO just LOVES nitrogen. You can't imagine the things I have seen him have to do with a pickup reel to get the wheat out. And yet, every year more nitrogen. Last year it was only his overlaps and headlands. Maybe he will get it down.

I am taking it for hay.

Right now, I got a hot tip on somewhere else to buy seed, and it will be cheaper for sure.

I am planning on putting it in at 65-70 lbs to the acre (like the neighbor recommended).

I will be drilling it with a little Case Seed Drill.

You have confirmed what I already feared about the Oats/Peas, so I will not be doing that, too complicated for a first timer!

I am VERY excited! Hope it turns out well!

I have been writing everything down that you guys have said in my books, including this about the fertilizer.

I will ask around a little more, because things might be a little different just because of my location compared to yours.

Thanks so much for the help! I REALLY appreciate it!

Bryce

In my mind oats and peas are a forage crop, not a hay crop, and you are well advised to not try making it into hay. We baled oats one year for hay and dad said the heifers liked it well enough. Still seemed like they wasted quite a bit of it.

If I remember right we cut it in the milk stage with our 9'haybine, laid out as wife as we could go without running it over, and it dried down just fine. Need a good take to pick it up because our old farmhand style rake wouldn't touch it, but the neighbors Gehl 207 wheel rake worked very well too rake it.

If you seed it with oats, use that as the nurse crop for something like alfalfa and Timothy.

Donovan from Wisconsin

If you plan to sell the crop, check with your local sale barn or hay auction to find out what buyers are looking for and what prices to expect. Then tailor your crop to what buyers want. Marketing your crop can be just as important to your profits as being an efficient producer is.

If there are horse people in your area there might be good demand for oats straw and oats as a grain. If your growing season is long enough to grow oats for grain, the grain and straw should be worth more than as oats hay alone. If you will only have the ground for one year, I wouldn't add the expense of seeding hay with the oats unless the landlord will compensate you for it. Otherwise sow for maximum oats production.

Not having a combine is not a problem if you can hire one. Plan that combining will be done on the owner's schedule, often first come, first served, so sign up early. Depending on which head is on the combine, cutting oats into windrows before combining instead of direct cutting can reduce some of your your exposure to bad weather.

If you produce oats hay, plan to use it or sell it earlier than you would sell regular hay. Oats hay really attracts mice, voles, and other rodents from surrounding fields. If you keep oats hay until the spring peak in hay price, when you try to load it you might find several burrows through every bale and the sisal twine chewed through on a high percentage of bales. Don't be surprised to see mice dropping out of bales as you load and as you deliver the bales. Plastic twine is a must for moving oats hay, if the buyers will accept plastic twine.