... your place for oat information.

Much of our community's work begins with grant applications, and the Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA) has just been awarded nearly two million dollars from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's CAP program "to develop new oat cultivars suited for production in western Canada".

This Newsletter update brings you word of a brand-new oat breeder position! The position is with InterGrain, in Perth, Australia. Information about how to apply can be found here. (Note that word of this position went out to OatMail subscribers first. Sign up here if you're interested in joining the group.)

This update of the Newsletter brings you three new pages to peruse: "Nomenclature", "Germplasm", and "Pathology". They were created to make relevant tools and information easier to find, and to reflect the existence of the AOW/IOC Nomenclature and Germplasm Committees, as well as the Oat Rust Initiative. Each page is still very much a work in progress, and much more information will be added.

Unfortunately, this update brings a double dose of sad news. First, Harold Marshall passed away on April 27th, 2019. Harold was the oat breeder at Pennsylvania State U. for many years, and continued to develop new oat lines at his farm after retirement. Then, Marty Carson passed away on May 9th. Marty was a plant pathologist, and did much work on crown rust during his tenure as Research Leader at the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory in St. Paul, MN.

I left off in January by mentioning some of Vern Burrows’ work. Well, in the past year, Vern has been recognized for his work three more times! Most recently, he was promoted within the Order of Canada. You can read about these recent awards in the “Hall of Fame” section under “Other Awards and Accolades”, or go directly here.

Happy 2019 everyone! I have a couple of items to finish off 2018: the Web harvest for December is in the “Community News” section, and a summary concerning oat cultivars released in Canada in 2018 is in the “Research Reports” section. I would like to see summaries concerning new cultivars released in other countries as well. Are there some of you who would be willing to put those together, please?

I have one thing for you today – my very best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. Oh – and this little music video about oat species in the “Community News” section.

Pax vobis omnibus!

...is a question I've been asked many times at banquets and so on, and it seems appropriate now. There are two new reports in the “Research Reports” section, both translated from German. One presents data concerning the mixed-feed market, and the other discusses adding oats to chicken feed to prevent feather picking. Note that research reports will now be identified on the reports pages as being translations, summaries, or original work.

A number of new events are now listed below and on the calendar, including PAG XXVII and several Prairie Oat Grower Association (POGA)-related AGMs. Today (November 2nd) is the LAST DAY for early-bird registration for PAG. Register by 11:59 Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -7) to get the best rates!

As has been the trend lately, a new position has become available! The USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Lab in St. Paul, MN, is looking for a Biologist. Details are here, and the closing date is Oct. 16th.

Over at Oat Global, Will Zorrilla was the successful candidate for the position of Associate Director. Congratulations, Will, and welcome to the community!