New milling oat to provide growers with new markets

Western Australian farmers can now choose the high-yielding Bannister oat to meet increasing world demand for food grade oats.

  • High-yield Bannister oat to help farmers meet world demand for food grade WA oats

  • Bannister oat approved as a milling variety in Western Australia

Western Australian farmers can now choose the high-yielding Bannister oat to meet increasing world demand for food grade oats.

Agriculture and Food Minister Ken Baston said the Bannister oat has now been approved as a milling variety, giving WA farmers a new opportunity to meet demand in major international markets.

"Our farmers have gained a reputation for producing high-quality oats with a high milling yield. The new Bannister oat variety can boost our ability to meet export demand for food grade milling oats from WA at the moment we have a shortfall in supply," Mr Baston said.

"There is ongoing demand from Mexico and increasing demand from China as the health benefits of oats becomes more recognised, new oat products are developed and additional oat processing facilities are established.

"As a milling oat, Bannister will provide an excellent replacement for the feed grade Wandering variety, which is now in oversupply."

Bannister was bred under the National Oat Breeding Program by researchers from the WA Department of Agriculture and Food and the South Australian Research and Development Institute and supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

In the last few months, milling oats have attracted a higher price of between $15 and $25 per tonne to growers and so the new oat shows great potential for the industry.

"It is heartening to see the interest by growers in adopting the new variety with 115 tonnes of seed to be planted this season," Mr Baston said.

Seednet, which has the rights to distribute the seed, has allocated 15 tonne of seed which will be sown on three sites to further bulk up the variety. This will be made available to growers for planting during the 2014 season.

          Fact File

  • Trial results show Bannister is a high yielding variety, averaging 3.5 t/ha compared to Carrolup (milling oat) at 2.9 t/ha and Wandering (feed oat) at 3.3 t/ha

  • Oats are one of nature's most nutrient rich grains which have shown health benefits in people who consume more whole-grains in their daily diet

Minister's office  - 6552 5800