Friday, October 31, 1997

Greatly improved oats from Texas A&M seen as big breakthrough

By J.T. Smith / Abilene Reporter-News

An exciting development in oats.

A new oat variety with excellent resistance to both oat crown and stem rust is now on the market and available to farmers this year.

The variety, "TAMO 397," is a long-awaited breakthrough for oat production in Texas.

Dale Williams, director of the Texas Foundation Seed Service in Vernon, said TAMO 397 will be available from TFSS and through some South Texas certified dealers as well.

The new variety offers big advantages over other currently available varieties -- especially for South Texas producers.

The jury is still out on just how far north this oat variety will tolerate winter.

"TAMO 397 has the best crown rust resistance of any available variety. It also has a near-immune reaction to oat stem rust and is the only variety having effective crown rust resistance to show any stem rust resistance," Dr. Milton McDaniel, one of the key reserachers who developed the new oats, said.

Strong and productive

McDaniel said the straw strength of TAMO 397 is excellent. This oat variety stands extremely well despite its tall height. Its height is comparable to the Experiment Station's TAMO 386 and Coronado varieties, but the straw strength of TAMO 397 is clearly superior.

The question appears to be just exactly how far north the new oat variety will perform well?

Researchers -- at this point -- don't feel TAMO 397 has enough winter hardiness to be fall-planted much north of the College Station-Austin area. It appears to be more likely to suffer winterkill than most other available varieties -- except Coronado.

Nevertheless, the new oats have generally performed well in the Temple, McGregor and Waco areas.

For more information, contact Williams at his Vernon office, (940) 552-6226.