What do oats look like in the field

Typically the crop will be in the store until late October. The farmer monitors the oats weekly, recording the temperature of the grain in compliance with Scottish Quality Crops protocol, to ensure that it remains at optimum quality for milling.

When the specialist haulier arrives at the farm, the farmer uses a fork lift to transfer the grain from the store to the truck. From there the oats are taken direct to our mill in Banffshire, where the production process begins. If you're a Scottish oat farmer and are interested in working with us, contact your local merchant about becoming a supplier. A Season in Oat Farming. Follow the oat growing season We work closely with a network of Scottish farmers, many of whom have supplied us with oats for several generations.

Step Preparing the field The field is ploughed to prepare for sowing. Step Selecting the seed variety Our farmer suppliers keep up with the latest trends in farming, and many vary the variety of oats that they use each year to ensure that they will produce the best possible crop.

Step Sowing the seed Specialist equipment allows the farmer to cultivate the soil, sow the seed and fertilise the crop with micro granules all at the same time. If you cut groats into two or three pieces with a sharp metal blade, you get steel cut oats. They cook quicker than oat groats, because water can more easily penetrate the smaller pieces. Steel cut oats are also sometimes called Irish oatmeal. Instead of cutting oats with a steel blade, the Scots traditionally stone-grind them, creating broken bits of varying sizes, which some say results in a creamier porridge than steel-cutting.

This process stabilizes the healthy oils in the oats, so they stay fresh longer, and helps the oats cook faster, by creating a greater surface area. During the winter, the seeds germinate to store energy until it is time to grow. The oat plants finally begins to grow in the spring when the weather is warmer.

Depending on when the oats were planted, they usually are harvested in the mid-summer and onwards. Farmers today use a machine called a combine to harvest the oats. This separates the stem of the plant from the oats. They are then loaded into a truck, like in this video, and are stored in silos until they are ready to be milled and hulled.

This means that they are being prepared for us to eat! Oats are most commonly used in foods such as oatmeal, and oat flour. Cereal GF. Snackers GF. Oat Bars GF. Pop Oats GF. South Africa. Organic Scottish Oatcakes. Discover more. Fine Milled Oatcakes. Rough Oatcakes. Stem Ginger Oat Biscuits. Mixed Berries Oat Biscuits. Dark Chocolate Chip Oat Biscuits. Scottish Porridge Oats. Syrup Oat Biscuit Breaks.

Fruit Oat Biscuit Breaks. Chocolate Chip Oat Biscuit Breaks.