Why hulless oats? Because hulling oats is no easy task!
Wikipedia defines the process of dehulling oats as... Dehulling Oats "Separation of the outer hull from the inner oat groat is effected by means of centrifugal acceleration. Oats are fed by gravity onto the center of a horizontally spinning stone which accelerates them towards the outer ring. Groat and hull are separated on impact with this ring. The lighter oat hulls are then aspirated away while the denser oat groats are taken to the next step of processing. Oat hulls can be used as feed, processed further into insoluble oat fiber, or used as a biomass fuel."
Thus hulless oat varieties have remained popular through the years. However, hulless oats are not without there challanges. Many times hulless will "lodge". Lodging means that the stalk falls over. Normally, in a wind or rain storm. This makes harvesting hulless oats a real pain in the back. Literally!
Normal oats can have this problem, but it seems to happen less often. Honestly occasional lodging of hulless oats is a small price to pay in my book when it comes to the dehulling oats. Most of us don't posses such a device. I can't begin to tell you the convenience of having an oat that is ready to feed to your animals or yourself. I simply cut hulless oats, allow them to dry in the field for a few days if there is not the threat of rain or birds and store the entire shock in the barn. When I'm ready to feed my animals hulless oats I simply toss the entire shock in. Some of the oats fall off when the goats are eating the hay and the chickens clean up happily.
We are currently growing out many types of hulless oats. However, most of the samples we get of these heirloom grains are very small. In most case just 30 oat seeds. It takes years to grow enough hulless oats to share with you. Please be patient. Preserving heirloom grains is a monumental task, but one that we believe firmly in. If your family farm has been growing an heirloom grain for generations please send us a sample and tell us the story of your grain. Saving non genetically modified grains for our future is so important!
