DEVELOPING BLACK OAT CULTIVARS FOR FLORIDA DAIRIES

Introduction Black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb) is a cool-season annual grass that

has Mediterranean origin and has been used in Europe for centuries

Black oat is also successfully used in the southern portion of SouthAmerica, in regions with similar latitude than Florida

Compared to annual ryegrass or other cool-season small grains,black oats are more heat tolerant and disease resistant

Black oats are not cold hardy, but they are recommended for theUSDA Plant Hardiness Zones 8b-10a, which includes most of Florida

Objectives

Conclusions In South Florida (RCREC-Ona), black oats were better than other small grains

(rye, oat, triticale) and annual ryegrass. In Central (UF Dairy in Gainesville andNorth Florida Holstein in Bell) and North Florida (Marianna), black oats hadsimilar productivity than the most productive oat (Legend 567) and other smallgrains/annual ryegrass.

In Ona, the plant introduction (PI) CI7280 showed the best results, being apromising cultivar for future release.

Nutritive value of black oats is high, comparable to other cool-season forages.Average IVOMD ranged from 75 to 80% and crude protein from 20 to 24%.

During the Fall, no major diseases were identified in black oats. During thesummer planting, leaf spot (Bipolaris spp.) was observed not only in black oats,but in all cool-season forages planted.

Summer planting is also problematic regarding weed management and presenceof leaf spot. Fall planting seems more adequate for black oat establishment.

Best selections were included in regional trials in 2018-2019 season.

Methods

Jose Dubeux1, Ann Blount1, Stephen Harrison2, Lynn Sollenberger3, Joao Vendramini4, Cheryl Mackowiak1, Nicolas DiLorenzo1, Erick Santos1, David Jaramillo1, Liza Garcia1

The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance ofblack oat entries contrasting with other cool-season grasses in fourlocations in Florida

Experiment conducted at UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center (NFREC) - Marianna; North Florida Holstein – Bell, UF Dairy – Gainesville, and RCREC – Ona

Black oat entries included CI6858, SAI SELN, CI7280, CD3280, SAIA2, SAIA4, PI436103, PI436109, and Soil Saver

Cool-season controls included the following oats: Legend 567, Horizon 201, FL0720, and Cosaque; In addition, we also added Triticale, cereal rye, and annual ryegrass controls

Response variables included herbage accumulation and nutritive value (crude protein and IVOMD)

Plots measured 1.5 x 3 m; planting date was 9/30/2016; fertilization with 336 kg ha-1 of 10-10-10 at planting; RCBD with 4 blocks

Plots were harvested twice in Bell and Gainesville, three times in Ona, and four times in Marianna, at 10-cm stubble height, with application of 56 kg N ha-1 after each harvest

Statistical Analysis• Data analyzed using PROC Mixed from SAS, and LSMEANS

compared using PDIFF adjusted by Tukey’s test (P < 0.05)o Fixed effects included forage entryo Random effects included blocks; Sites analyzed separately

¹University of Florida North Florida Research and Education Center, Marianna, FL; 2Louisiana State University – LSU AgCenter 3Agronomy Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 4University of Florida Range Cattle Research and Education Center, Ona, FL

Results

Site

Treatment Marianna Ona Gainesville Bell

-------------------------- kg DM ha-1 -------------------------

CI6858 (black oat) 4800 2759 5820 3733

SAI SELN (black oat) 4810 2073 --- ---

CI7280 (black oat) 5040 3432 5760 3627

CD3280 (black oat) 5160 2539 5620 4107

SAIA2 (black oat) 5640 2940 --- ---

SAIA4 (black oat) 4580 2216 5460 3840

PI436103 (black oat) 4740 2370 --- ---

PI436109 (black oat) 4740 2785 --- ---

Soil Saver (black oat) 5180 2452 6620 3227

Cosaque (oat) 5760 2496 --- ---

Legend 567 (oat) 6500 2131 6220 4187

Horizon 201 (oat) 6300 2374 --- ---

FL0720 (oat) 5820 2654 --- ---

FL08128 (triticale) 5500 2142 --- ---

FL01143 (triticale) 6340 1762 --- ---

Trical 342 (triticale) 5400 2204 --- ---

FL401 Cereal Rye 5420 2166 --- ---

Earlyploid Ryegrass 6440 1715 --- ---

Standard Error 437 386 405 425

Table 2. Herbage accumulation of black oats and other cool-season forages across different locations in Florida

Figure 1. USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 8b-10a (USDA-ARS-NSDL, 2005)

Figure 2. Seed increase of black oat experimental lines in Marianna, FL 04/02/2018. Photo credit: Jose Dubeux

DESIGNATION NOTES TRAITS

CI 6858 Uruguay LATER, LEAFY,

SAIA SELN BRAZIL LATER, GOOD, LEAFY

CI7280 US - MD LATER, GOOD, LEAFY

CD3280 CANADA LATE, GOOD

CD8087 CANADA VERY LATE, LEAFY

SAIA2 ISRAEL GOOD, EARLY

SAIA4 ISRAEL GOOD, EARLY

PI436103 CHILE WINTER, LEAFY

PI436104 CHILE WINTER, LEAFY

PI436109 CHILE FACULT, MOD LATE, LEAFY

Table 1. Black Oats experimental lines

0100200300400500600700800900

1000

Black oats Others (Rye, Oat,Triticale, and ryegrass)

Herb

age

accu

mul

atio

n (k

g ha

-1ha

rves

t-1)

Ona

ab

Figure 4. Black oats compared with other cool-season forages at RCREC-ONA in 2016-2017

Figure 3. Harvest black oat trials in Marianna, FL.

ReferencesUSDA-ARS-NSDL. 2005. SoilSaver-A Black Oat Winter Cover Crop for the Lower Southeastern Coastal Plain. Conservation Systems Fact Sheet No. 01. Available at http://www.ars.usda.gov/ SP2UserFiles/Place/64200500/csr/FactSheets/FS01.pdf (verified January 2014). USDA-ARS-NSDL, Auburn, AL.

Treatment IVOMD Crude Protein--------------- g kg-1 ---------------

CI6858 736 183SAI SELN 750 180CI7280 735 176CD3280 745 193SAIA2 745 190SAIA4 745 197PI436103 763 200PI436109 745 176Soil Saver 769 190Cosaque 809 175Legend 567 774 170Horizon 201 814 172FL0720 782 199FL08128 765 192FL01143 759 195Trical 342 748 187FL401 Cereal Rye 724 188Earlyploid Ryegrass 761 182

Standard Error 16 18

Table 3. Nutritive value of black oats and other cool-season forages in Marianna, Florida; data are averaged across four harvests