Speaking of Oats…

 

Speaking of Oats... banner

PRESENTED BY OAT GLOBAL

N.B.: The Oat Global "Speaking of Oats..." page is here. Links to the webinar recordings are also available below and, for each year (starting with 2020), in the corresponding "Research Report" volumes (see "Research" tab above).

SPEAKER NOMINATION FORM

 

May 24th, 2024

On May 15th, we were very pleased to hear all about crown rust from Duong Nguyen, along with Melania Figueroa (both from CSIRO in Australia). Thanks very much to the both of you for a great presentation and discussion! If you missed it, you can watch the recording on YouTube or here, on the newsletter site.

If you would like to take advantage of the "Speaking of Oats..." platform to showcase your work (whatever your connection to the oat community), please get in touch with Charlene Wight (oatnewsletter@gmail.com) or use the form at the top of the page. Thank you!

 

May 3rd, 2024

Registration for the May 15th webinar is NOW OPEN!
 

April 26th, 2024

"Speaking of Oats..." is coming back! Please plan to join us for the next webinar on Wednesday, May 15th at 4:30 pm (16:30) EDT (UTC -4)
  Leveraging molecular tools and data integration to solve the oat crown rust puzzle.
  Duong Nguyen (CSIRO).
Registration information will be posted once it becomes available. Check the time offset for your location here.

 

February 10th, 2023

The video from January's webinar on "Understanding UK oats: Physiology and Nutrition", presented by Sarah Clarke from ADAS, can be found on YouTube or here. Thank you so much to Sarah for a wonderful presentation! Sarah's contact information is listed at the end of the video, so please feel to get in touch with her to discuss all things related to oat agronomy. More about Sarah's work was recently published in this article in Farmer's Weekly magazine.

We do not yet have a speaker for the next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity to showcase your work (whatever your connection to the oat community), please get in touch with Charlene Wight (oatnewsletter@gmail.com) or use the form at the top of the page. Thank you!

 

December 5th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, January 17th at 10:30 am EST (UTC -5)
  Understanding UK Oats: Physiology and Nutrition.
  Sarah Clarke (Technical Director, Crop Physiology, ADAS, UK).

Registration is NOW OPEN! Please note that this webinar is on a Tuesday, and begins on the half hour! Check the time offset for your location here.

The video from November's webinar on the CROPDIVA and FUGE projects can be found on YouTube or here. Thank you so much to all of the speakers for helping us make sense of a very complex pair of projects!

 

October 9th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Thursday, November 17th from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EST (UTC -5). Registration is now open! This webinar will feature Matthias Herrmann (JKI, Germany), Charlotte Rodemann (U. Goettingen, Germany), Selma Schurack (JKI, Germany), Geert Haesaert (U. Ghent, Belgium), Steffen Beuch (Nordsaat, Germany), Hermann Buerstmayr (BOKU, Austria), and Susanne Vogelgsang (Agroscope, Switzerland) discussing "CROPDIVA and FUGE - two multiple-area research projects on oats in Europe". Please note that this session will run for an extra half hour. Check the time offset for your location here.

In September, we had a discussion about the Oat Newsletter, the "Speaking of Oats..." webinar series, and Oat Global, in part to go over some of the results from the survey that was held earlier in the month. The video can be found on YouTube or here. The survey results themselves are here.

 

August 26th, 2022

As mentioned previously, the next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, September 27th at 11:00 am EDT (UTC -4). Registration is now open! The theme will be "Keeping the Oat Community Connected", and the webinar will focus on the Oat Newsletter, the "Speaking of Oats..." webinar series, and Oat Global. To help with our efforts to keep the oat community connected, we have put together a survey, which you can access here. Thank you for your help!

 

August 5th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, September 27th at 11:00 am EDT (UTC -4). This session will be a little different. As mentioned earlier, Pablo Olivera and I (Charlene Wight) would like to discuss “SOO…”, the Oat Newsletter, and Oat Global and get your feedback regarding how to improve these services. Please keep an eye out for a survey that we will be sending around soon! More information about the session and a registration link will be posted later this month.

 

June 28th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be held in September, after we have a break for the summer. The focus of that one will be how members of the oat community can best connect. In addition to discussing the Oat Newsletter and the "Speaking of Oats..." webinar series, we'll also be looking at Oat Global and its role in the community. Details for the webinar will be provided sometime in August.

On June 14th, we were very pleased to hear from Pekka Lehtinen and Ulla Holopainen-Mantila of VTT, Finland. You can watch their presentations on YouTube or here, on the newsletter site. A number of people have said that they cannot access YouTube, so we will be making all of the webinars available here (eventually). The list of publications resulting from the OatHow study that Ulla presented is also here:

Thank you so much, Pekka and Ulla, for sharing such amazing work with us!

 

May 3rd, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, June 14th, at 11:00 am EDT (UTC -4). We will have two presentations from scientists at VTT in Finland:
  Novel quality indicators for food oats – The Finnish OatHow study, presented by Senior Scientist, Ulla Holopainen-Mantila, and
  Oats as a multifunctional alternative protein source, presented by Research Team Leader, Pekka Lehtinen.

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

In April, Cark Maunsell and Emilie Gombert from Oat Cosmetics in the UK showed us a different way to produce and use oat ingredients - thank you both very much for that! Their presentation can now be viewed on YouTube. Please note that the conversation continues past the slide advertising the June webinar!

 

April 4th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, April 26th, at 11:00 am EDT
  Oats as a Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Ingredient.
  Cark Maunsell, CEO of Oat Cosmetics in the UK, will discuss how his company develops new oat-based ingredients for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical markets.

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

 

March 18th, 2022

Yesterday's presentation by Weikai Yan concerning mega-environments in Canada has now been posted to YouTube. His slides can also be seen here. Thank you for a great session, Weikai!

We are still working on who will speak in April. We will also be shifting our pattern a little bit and start holding the webinars about every six weeks instead of four. More details will be posted later. In the meantime, if you would like to participate, please use the "Speaker Nomination Form" above.

There have been some changes to the "SOO..." team. First, Annie Harvieux, from the University of Minnesota (UMN) communications team, has joined us to provide technical assistance. Second, Jim Bradeen is moving up in the world, and has left UMN. His position as Director of Oat Global has now been filled by Pablo Olivera Firpo, who is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at UMN, as Jim was. I'd like to welcome Pablo to our community and thank Jim for all that he has done for us! Best of luck in your new position, Jim!

 

February 28th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be at our more usual time on Thursday, March 17th, at 11:00 am EDT (UTC -4)
  Mega-environment analysis and breeding for mega-environment specific oat cultivars for Canada.
  Oat breeder Weikai Yan (Ottawa RDC, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) will discuss how identifying mega-environments in Canada has helped him structure his breeding program.

**Please note that North America is moving to Daylight Savings Time the Sunday before**

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

The presentation by Allan Rattey regarding his breeding program at InterGrain has now been posted to YouTube. Thank you so much for a great presentation, Allan!

 

February 6th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, February 22nd, at 5:30 pm EST
  Australian Oat Breeding at InterGrain: Building Upon Public-Funded Breeding Success.
  Oat breeder Allan Rattey (InterGrain, Perth, Australia) will discuss the new program at InterGrain, which follows on from Pamela Zwer's program at SARDI.

**Please note that this is not our usual day or time**

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

The presentation by Pamela Zwer and guests on the International Oat Conference has now been posted to YouTube. The videos from what ended up being two webinars have been put together, with the one from February 1st being presented first. Many thanks to Pamela, Brain Rossnagel, Ash Wiese, and Nick Tinker for what ended up being two great sessions, despite the technical difficulties!

 

January 26th, 2022

To paraphrase Robert Burns, “the best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry”, and that’s exactly what happened with yesterday’s “Speaking of Oats…” webinar. Interesting that it was also Burns Day!

We had some technical difficulties that resulted in Pamela Zwer being unable to join the call, so the webinar has been rescheduled to the SAME TIME NEXT WEEK: Tuesday, February 1st, at 4:30 pm (16:30 hr) EST (UTC -5), which is 8:00 am ACDT (UTC +10.5) on Wednesday, February 2nd in Adelaide, Australia, from where Pamela will be joining us. Pamela and guests will be discussing “The origin and evolution of the International Oat Conference”.

If you were registered for yesterday’s session, you do not have to re-register, but please check your email to make sure you receive the updated link to join the call. As always, that email will come from “SBC UMN”. If you weren’t able to join us yesterday but can attend next week, you can register here.

Even though Pamela was unable to join us yesterday, we carried on with the meeting and did have a good discussion. Many thanks to Brian Rossnagel, Nick Tinker, and Ash Wiese for speaking, and to those of you who participated via chat. The session was recorded, and will be made available on YouTube soon.

 

January 7th, 2022

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on Tuesday, January 25th, at 4:30 pm EST
  The origin and evolution of the International Oat Conference.
  Pamela Zwer (Oat Breeding Consultant and former oat breeder at SARDI, Australia) and Guests will lead this discussion of the International Oat Conference from its very inception.

**Please note that this is not our usual day or time**

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

Part of what’s special about the International Oat Conference (IOC) is the cultural exchange, and the timing of the webinar coincides with either Burns Day or Australia Day, depending on where you live. A Burns Supper was held as part of the 6th IOC in New Zealand in 2000. The 4th IOC was held in Adelaide, Australia, in 1992, and the 11th IOC will be held in Perth, Australia, later this year (see the IOC section under the "Meetings" tab of the newsletter for more information about all of the conferences).

Please join us for an entertaining look back and a peek at what’s to come!

 

December 7th, 2021

There will be no "Speaking of Oats..." webinar this month. You can, however, go back and catch up on any webinars you missed by watching the videos! The video from the November webinar has now been posted. Thank you very much to Nancy Ames, Sijo Joseph, and Lovemore Malunga for a great session on oat quality!

You can find all of the videos on the "SOO..." YouTube channel. If you'd like to nominate yourself or someone else as a speaker, please use the nomination form. Details for the webinars in January and February will be announced soon!

 

November 9th, 2021

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on November 23rd at 2 pm EST
  Advancements in Oat Quality.
  Nancy Ames, Sijo Joseph, and Lovemore Malunga (Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals and Morden RDC, AAFC, Winnipeg MB, Canada).

**Please note that this is not our usual day or time**

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

Many thanks to Axel Diederichsen for talking to us last month about Plant Gene Resources of Canada and helping us understand the complexities of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture! The video from Axel's talk as well as the one from September concerning crown rust have now been posted. Our apologies for the delays - we lost the invaluable help of Grant Czadzeck recently (congratulations on the new position, Grant!) and have been having some technical difficulties.

 

October 6th, 2021

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on October 21st at 11:00 am EDT
  The impact of global changes on oat conservation and exchange at Plant Gene Resources of Canada.
  Axel Diederichsen (Plant Gene Resources of Canada, AAFC).

This presentation will include information about legal requirements set out in what is commonly known as the Plant Treaty (ITPGRFA, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture).

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

The video from September's "SOO..." webinar will be posted soon. Many thanks to Shahryar Kianian, Oluseyi Fajolu, and Eric Nazareno for an excellent session and to Keith Armstrong from New Zealand and Laura Ziems from Australia for attending that and other "SOO..." webinars in person in the middle of the night!

In other "SOO..." news, a new steering committee has been created to help find speakers for the series. Each member will serve for one year in this capacity. Many thanks for taking this on to:

  • Steffen Beuch (NORDSAAT, Germany)
  • Jason Fiedler (USDA-ARS, USA)
  • Catherine Howarth (IBERS, Aberystwyth University, UK)
  • Bryan Jorgensen (Jorgensen Farms, SD, USA)
  • Shawna Mathieson (Prairie Oat Growers Association, Canada)
  • Rachel Nash (Grains Industry of Western Australia, Australia)
  • Emilia Nordlund (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland), and
  • Tyr Weisnerhanks (PepsiCo, USA)

We are also relying on you, the members of the oat community, to help us find speakers that represent the entire oat value chain. We especially invite nominations of presenters who collectively represent the global importance of oats and who underscore the contributions of the diverse, multi-faceted composition of our community. Please submit your suggestions using our NEW FORM. You are also still welcome to contact Oat Global Director Jim Bradeen (jbradeen@umn.edu) or Oat Newsletter Editor Charlene Wight (charlene.wight@agr.gc.ca or oatnewsletter@gmail.com) at any time. Thank you!

 

September 12th, 2021

"SOO..." is back! Please join us on:
  September 16th at 11:00 am EDT
  Oat Crown Rust: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
  Shahryar Kianian and Oluseyi Fajolu (both USDA-ARS), and Eric Nazareno (University of Minnesota).

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

On October 21st at 11:00 am EDT, we will be hearing from Axel Diederichsen (Plant Gene Resources of Canada, AAFC), who will discuss "The impact of global changes on oat conservation and exchange at Plant Gene Resources of Canada”​. This presentation will include information about legal requirements set out in what is commonly known as the Plant Treaty (ITPGRFA, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture). Registration will open after the "SOO..." webinar in September.

 

June 8th, 2021

We're taking a break for the (northern hemisphere) summer! We will be back again with more webinars in September, starting with this one:
  September 16th at 11:00 am EDT
  Oat Crown Rust: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
  Shahryar Kianian and Oluseyi Fajolu (both USDA-ARS), and Eric Nazareno (University of Minnesota).

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

The video recording from May's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  Improving heat stress tolerance in MN-adapted oats using eco-physiological approaches
  Walid Sadok and Kevin Smith (University of Minnesota, USA).

 

April 20th, 2021

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on May 20th at 11:00 am EDT:
  Improving heat stress tolerance in MN-adapted oats using eco-physiological approaches.
  Walid Sadok and Kevin Smith (University of Minnesota, USA).

Some intriguing results concerning heat stress and drought tolerance in oats will be presented and discussed.

Registration is NOW OPEN! Check the time offset for your location here.

The video recording from April's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  Technological Advances That Can Accelerate Oat Improvement
  Jorge Dubcovsky (University of California-Davis, USA), Isabel Alicia del Blanco (University of California-Davis, USA), and Jaswinder Singh (McGill University, Canada).

 

March 28th, 2021

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on April 15th at 2:00 pm EDT:
  Technological Advances That Can Accelerate Oat Improvement.
  Jorge Dubcovsky (University of California-Davis, USA), Isabel Alicia del Blanco (University of California-Davis, USA), and Jaswinder Singh (McGill University, Canada).

The advances discussed will include using genetic transformation for the decoding and tuning of oat genes.

Registration is NOW OPEN! Please note that this is not our usual time. Check the time offset for your location here.

The video recording from March's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  USDA-ARS Oat Grand Challenge.
  José Costa, Kathy Esvelt-Klos, Jason Fiedler, Jae Ohm, Shahryar Kianian, David Garvin, Sharon Schneider, Jean-Luc Jannink, Taner Sen, Mike Grusak, and Jim Harnly (USDA-ARS).

 

February 23rd, 2021

The video recording from February's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  GrainGenes: A Curated and Functional Global Web Resource for Small Grains.
  Taner Sen (USDA-ARS, USA) and Victoria Blake (Montana State University, USA)

The CMap comparative mapping tutorial mentioned during the seminar can be found here.

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on March 18th at 11:00 am EDT:
  USDA-ARS Oat Grand Challenge.

    • José Costa, USDA-ARS, USA
    • Kathy Esvelt-Klos (Germplasm) Aberdeen, ID.
    • Jason Fiedler (High-throughput genotyping platforms) Fargo, ND.
    • Shahryar Kianian (Genetic resistance to diseases) St. Paul, MN.
    • Jae Ohm (Phenotyping) Fargo, ND.
    • David Garvin (Genome editing) ) St. Paul, MN.
    • Sharon Schneider (Performance in cropping systems) Brookings, SD.
    • Jean-Luc Jannink and Taner Sen (Data management) Ithaca, NY and Albany, CA.
    • Jim Harnly (Nutrition) Beltsville, MD.

Registration is NOW OPEN!  Check the time offset for your location here (NB: most of North America switches to Daylight Savings Time on March 14th).

 

February 12th, 2021

The video recording from January's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  The T3 Database and Applications to Oats.
  Jean-Luc Jannink (USDA-ARS, USA), Clay Birkett (USDA-ARS, USA), and David Waring (Cornell U., USA)

The transcript from the question and answer session can be found here.

Don't forget the next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar on February 18th at 11:00 am EST (Canada/USA):
  GrainGenes: A Curated and Functional Global Web Resource for Small Grains.
  Taner Sen (USDA-ARS, USA) and Victoria Blake (Montana State University, USA)

  Registration is open.  Check the time offset for your location here.

Coming up on March 18th, scientists from the USDA-ARS will present updates on their work:
   Oat Updates from USDA-ARS.

    • José Costa, USDA-ARS, USA
    • Kathy Esvelt-Klos (Germplasm) Aberdeen, ID.
    • Jason Fiedler (High-throughput genotyping platforms) Fargo, ND.
    • Jae Ohm (Phenotyping) Fargo, ND.
    • Shahryar Kianian (Genetic resistance to diseases) St. Paul, MN.
    • David Garvin (Genome editing) ) St. Paul, MN.
    • Sharon Schneider (Performance in cropping systems) Brookings, SD.
    • Jean-Luc Jannink and Taner Sen (Data management) Ithaca, NY and Albany, CA.
    • Mike Grusak (Nutrition) Fargo, ND.
    • Jim Harnly (Food Composition) Beltsville, MD.

Registration for this webinar will open after our session on February 18th.

 

January 22nd, 2021

The next "Speaking of Oats..." webinar will be on February 18th at 11:00 am EST (Canada/USA):
  GrainGenes: A Curated and Functional Global Web Resource for Small Grains.
  Taner Sen (USDA-ARS, USA) and Victoria Blake (Montana State University, USA)

GrainGenes is a digital platform that serves small grains research communities as a centralized repository for peer-reviewed and curated data, and as a facilitator for community activities. It has been hard-funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service to ensure long-term data sustainability through a functional and integrated web interface for wheat, barley, oat, and rye. Tutorials are available here.

  Registration for this webinar is NOW OPEN!  Check the time offset for your location here.

 

January 4th, 2021

The video recording from December's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  The International Oat Nursery.
  Stephen Harrison (LSU, USA), Mónica Mathias (INIA, Chile), and Liliana Wehrhahne (INTA, Argentina)

Please join us on January 21st at 11:00 am EST (Canada/USA) for our next webinar:
  The T3 Database and Applications to Oats.
  Jean-Luc Jannink (USDA-ARS, USA), Clay Birkett (USDA-ARS, USA), and David Waring (Cornell U., USA)

"T3" stands for "The Triticeae Toolbox". The T3 databases (for oat, wheat, and barley) contain unpublished data from field and genotyping trials, along with tools for data analysis. All three databases have recently been updated to the new Breedbase format. Tutorials are available for T3/Wheat, and are applicable to T3/Oat as well.

  Registration for this webinar is NOW OPEN!  Check the time offset for your location here.

 

November 24, 2020

The video recording from last week's "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  Oat Updates from the North American Millers’ Association and the Canadian National Millers Association.
  Dale Nellor (NAMA, USA) and Gordon Harrison (CNMA, Canada)

Please join us on December 17th at 11:00 am EST (Canada/USA) for our next webinar:
  The International Oat Nursery.
  Stephen Harrison (LSU, USA), Mónica Mathias (INIA, Chile), and Liliana Wehrhahne (INTA, Argentina)

  Registration is NOW OPEN!  Check the time offset for your location here.

 

October 16, 2020

The video recording from yesterday's first "Speaking of Oats..." webinar is now available on YouTube:
  PanOat: Why Does The World Need 30 Oat Genomes?
  Nick Tinker (ORDC/AAFC, Canada), Martin Mascher (IPK, Germany), and Jason Fiedler (USDA-ARS, USA)
  (An additional question was asked and has been answered here.)

Please join us on November 19th at 11:00 am EST (Canada/USA) for our next webinar:
  Oat Updates from the North American Millers’ Association and the Canadian National Millers Association.
  Dale Nellor (NAMA, USA) and Gordon Harrison (CNMA, Canada)

  Registration is NOW OPEN!  Check the time offset for your location here.

 

September 29, 2020

Speaking of Oats… A New Oat Community Series

Oat Global, in partnership with the Oat Newsletter, is proud to announce the launch of Speaking of Oats.... This new community engagement series provides opportunity for oat producers, oat processors, oat researchers, and other oat lovers to hear from experts in the field, to engage with each other, and to build new professional relationships. Speaking of Oats… comprises virtual sessions, approximately one each month, that are part update or seminar and part community dialogue, each focused on a topic of interest to the oat community. 

 A special thanks to our pioneering session organizers:

  • October 15 (10am Eastern*): PanOat: Why Does The World Need 30 Oat Genomes? Nick Tinker (ORDC/AAFC, Canada), Martin Mascher (IPK, Germany), and Jason Fiedler (USDA-ARS, USA).
  • November 19 (11am Eastern*): Oat Updates from the North American Millers’ Association and the Canadian National Millers Association. Dale Nellor (NAMA, USA) and Gord Harrison (CNMA, Canada)
  • December 17 (11am Eastern*): The International Oat Nursery. Stephen Harrison (LSU, USA), Mónica Mathias (INIA, Chile), and Liliana Wehrhahne (INTA, Argentina)
  • January 21 (11am Eastern*): The T3 Database and Applications to Oats. Jean-Luc Jannink (USDA-ARS, USA), Clay Birkett (USDA-ARS, USA), and David Waring (Cornell, USA)

Free, advanced registration is required for each Speaking of Oats… session. Speaking of Oats… sessions will be recorded and made available via YouTube. 

Questions? Topic suggestions? Want to volunteer to lead a future Speaking of Oats… session? Contact Oat Global Director Jim Bradeen (jbradeen@umn.edu) or Oat Newsletter Editor Charlene Wight (charlene.wight@canada.ca or oatnewsletter@gmail.com)

*Check the time offset for your location here.

(More about Oat Global and Oat Global meetings can be found here.)