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5 OATS
5.1 Average oat quality
Finnish Grain Quality in 2012
Of the samples sent in for the monitoring of the grain harvest, 31 per cent were oats,
and the cultivated area was also 31 per cent and 30 per cent of the grain harvest was
oats.
For oats there are two different quality categories depending on the end use. The
minimum quality requirement for feed oats is generally a hectolitre weight of 52 kg and
for milling quality oats for food use the hectolitre weight required is 58 kg. The hectolitre
weights for oats were very high in 2012, the average being 57.9 kg (the median was
58.4 kg). A total of 96 per cent of the oat samples had a hectolitre weight over 52 kg
and 59 per cent had a hectolitre weight over 58 kg.
Based on hectolitre weight the share of samples qualifying as feed oats and milling
oats was the highest for the decade (figure 15). It should still be noted that especially
oats were found to contain raised levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) in the whole country,
which in some cases have exceeded the limit of 1 750 µg/kg set for food use. This
decreased somewhat the share of oats qualifying for food use.
The average protein content of oats was 10.9 per cent (the median was 12.1 per cent),
which is the lowest for more than two decades. The average quality information for oats
for the years 1990–2012 is presented in table 9. The fluctuation of the average values
of hectolitre weight and protein content for oats and barley for the last ten years is
illustrated in the pictures (figures 19-20).
Table 9. Average oat quality 1990–2012
Oat
Crop Year Hectoliter weight Protein Shrivelled grain Total besatz
kg/hl % < 2,0 mm % %
1990 57,6 13,4 ― ―
1991 55,5 12,8 ― ―
1992 56,9 14,2 ― ―
1993 56,6 12,6 ― ―
1994 55,5 13,0 ― ―
1995 58,1 12,1 9,2 ―
1996 58,2 12,1 5,8 ―
1997 55,7 13,7 8,4 ―
1998 54,6 12,1 9,8 12,3
1999 55,2 15,0 11,3 15,6
2000 54,9 13,0 8,1 10,6
2001 56,2 13,4 7,6 10,0
2002 54,4 13,8 8,5 11,0
2003 54,9 14,2 10,3 11,6
2004 55,1 12,9 6,2 7,8
2005 55,1 12,8 8,4 10,2
2006 55,9 13,7 10,2 12,5
2007 56,1 13,1 5,0 6,7
2008 56,4 11,8 4,6 6,3
2009 55,7 12,1 5,5 7,1
2010 53,0 13,5 12,2 13,7
2011 55,2 13,5 5,1 6,6
2012 57,9 12,0 4,8 5,7
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