Oat is considered a healthy cereal due to a number of nutritional compounds found within the grain.  These include beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, polyphenolic avenanthramides which have anti-inflammatory effects that may protect against coronary heart disease, and a protein profile that provides a better balance of essential amino acids than other cereals and which can be consumed by most people suffering from celiac disease. As a result of these desirable attributes, oat remains a significant Canadian crop that has been seeded on an average of 3.6 million acres over the past five years.  The direct impact of the oat industry on the Canadian economy amounted to $1.4 billion and 7,000 jobs annually since 2018, with an indirect impact of $4.2 billion. Oat varieties are an important foundation of the Canadian oat industry and developing improved varieties will help support the continued growth of the industry.  To this end, there were three main goals of this project, including: 1) breed improved milling oat varieties, 2) evaluate and improve the nutritional quality of oat varieties and, 3) produce ‘hairless’ oat germplasm than can be incorporated into future varieties.

Each year an average of 53 crosses were made to create 214 early generation populations that were advanced through the program, 2,495 advanced lines were evaluated, 4,728 lines were screened for crown rust, stem rust, smut and FHB, and 42,740 molecular-marker data points were obtained for genes related to crown rust resistance. Nutritional quality information related to beta-glucan, total dietary fiber, protein and fat was obtained on an average of 10,861 lines.  Finally, a total of six crosses were made with the hairless groat variety VAO-51 in order to incorporate this trait into elite breeding lines adapted to western Canada.  These populations are currently advancing through the breeding program and visual selection of hairless groat lines will begin in the fall of 2024.

A total of 24 lines were advanced into the western cooperative oat registration trial (WCORT) over the course of this project.  Among these lines,  13 lines (OT3110, OT3112, OT3113, OT3116, OT3117, OT3118, OT3119, OT3121, OT3123, OT3124, OT3126, OT3130 and OT3132) showed groat percentage similar to, or better than, the WCORT check variety Summit, while 17 lines (OT3111, OT3112, OT3113, OT3114, OT3116, OT3117, OT3118, OT3120, OT3121, OT3122, OT3124, OT3126, OT3128, OT3129, OT3131, OT3132, and OT3133) contained beta-glucan equal to or greater than the WCORT check variety CS Camden.  Additionally, 14 lines (OT3112, OT3113, OT3114, OT3115, OT3118, OT3119, OT3121, OT3125, OT3126, OT3127, OT3129, OT3130, OT3131 and OT3133) showed protein content similar to, or better than, Summit and 12 lines (OT3110, OT3113, OT3114, OT3115, OT3117, OT3120, OT3122, OT3126, OT3127, OT3128, OT3129 and OT3131) contained total fat at the low levels shown by the WCORT check variety AC Morgan.

The most significant accomplishments of the project were the registration of two new milling oat varieties.  CDC Anson has very good crown rust resistance, strong yield potential similar to CS Camden, very short and strong straw, moderate maturity, excellent kernel weight and plumps, low thins, a groat percentage equal to Summit, beta-glucan similar to CDC Morrison, protein less than Summit and fat similar to Summit.  CDC Byer also has very good crown rust resistance, yield potential better than CS Camden, short and strong straw, moderate maturity, excellent plumps and low thins, a groat percentage better than CS Camden, beta-glucan higher than CS Camden, protein equal to Summit and fat similar to AC Morgan.  Overall, both varieties should provide the milling industry a significant improvement over current varieties.

Key Messages:

• Two new milling oat varieties, CDC Anson and CDC Byer, were bred and registered through this project. These varieties variety should be good replacements for growers currently using Summit or CS Camden, and they should be in strong demand by millers and food companies due to their combination of high groat percentage, plumps and beta-glucan content,
• The significant number of breeding lines assessed for important quality attributes has resulted in significant progress with 71% of CDC lines entering the western Canadian oat registration trials (WCORT) containing beta-glucan content equal to or better than the best check, while 58% and 50% have protein and fat content, respectively, equal to or better than the best checks. This should provide increased value to end-users when some of these lines are released as future varieties,
• Crosses were made during the course of this project using the VAO-51 donor line to incorporate the hairless (i.e. low trichome) groat trait into the CDC breeding program. The value of this trait to growers and millers will be assessed when good performing lines are produced in suitable volumes in future years.