InterGrain’s two new oat varieities, Goldie (left) and Minnie (right) sown 23 April 2024 in Beaumont, WA. Photo: InterGrain

GRAINS Australia has this week announced InterGrain’s Minnie as the latest variety to be classified as a milling oat under the new National Oat Variety Classification Framework.

Along with Seednet’s Koala, which gained milling classification last month, it joins InterGrain’s Goldie, which in February was the first variety to appear on the milling oat list.

Minnie is a mid-slow maturity variety with short stature, while Koala is a mid to late-maturing variety and a medium-tall plant type, and Goldie is a mid-spring maturity type.

While Koala and Minnie are being marketed as suitable for medium to high-rainfall zones in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and southern New South Wales, Minnie is being marketed as suited to WA only.

Minnie has a short-medium plant height, which improves lodging tolerance and harvestability compared to taller varieties in high-yielding situations.

Unlike wheat, where all changes to varietal classifications are released by Grains Australia in an annual master list released on August 1, Grains Australia is announcing evaluation updates for oats as they occur, and as is the case for malting barley accreditations.

Last year, Goldie and Koala were the first varieties to be accepted into the Australian Oat Classification Program.

Source: Grains Australia, InterGrain, Seednet