+Info   Oats are seeds or grains of a genus of plants that thrive in cool, moist climates. There are about 25 species of oats that grow worldwide in the cooler temperate regions. The oldest known cultivated oats were found inside caves in Switzerland and are believed to be from the Bronze Age. Oats are usually sown in early spring and harvested in mid to late summer, but in southern regions of the northern hemisphere, they may be sown in the fall. Oats are used in many processed foods such as flour, livestock feed, and furfural, a chemical used as a solvent in various refining industries. The oat crop year begins in June and ends in May. Oat futures and options are traded at the CME Group.

Prices - CME oat futures prices (Barchart.com electronic symbol ZO) on the nearest-futures chart rose through most of 2017, peaked in July and then moved down to close the year up about 5.7% at $2.41per bushel. Regarding cash prices, the average monthly price received by farmers for oats in the U.S. in the first six months of the 2017/18 marketing year (June/May) rose +17.9% yr/yr to $2.59 per bushel.

Supply - World oat production in 2017/18 is expected to fall -2.5% yr/yr to 23.000 million metric tons, moderately above the record low of 19.625 million metric tons posted in 2010-11. World annual oat production in the past three decades has dropped very sharply from levels above 50 million metric tons in the early 1970s. The world's largest oat producers in 2017/18 are expected to be the European Union with 35.1% of world production, Russia with 21.3%, Canada with 16.1%, and Australia with 4.8%.

U.S. oat production in the 2017/18 marketing year is expected to fall -23.7% yr/yr to 43.391 million bushels, which is a record low. U.S. oat production has fallen sharply from levels mostly above 1 billion bushels seen from the early 1900s into the early 1960s. U.S. farmers are expected to harvest only 801,000 acres of oats in 2017/18. down -16.3$ yr/yr. That is down from the almost 40 million acres harvested back in the 1950s. The oat yield in 2017/18 is expected to fall -6.5% to 61.7 bushels per acre. Oat stocks in the U.S. as of September 2017 were down -8.4% yr/yr to 71.969 million bushels. The largest U.S. oat-producing states in 2017 were the states of Minnesota with 14.8% of U.S production, South Dakota with 12.8%, Wisconsin with 12.3%, and North Dakota with 9.3%,

Demand - U.S. usage of oats in 2017/18 is expected to fall -1.2% yr/yr to 170.000 million bushels, but above the 2011-12 record low of 106.360 million bushels. U.S. usage of oats in 2016/17 is expected to be 52.9% for feed and residual, 41.2% for food, alcohol and industrial, 4.7% for seed, and the rest for export.

Trade - U.S. exports of oats in 2017/18 are expected to fall -41.4% yr/yr to 2.000 million bushels. U.S. imports of oats in 2017/18 are expected to rise +10.7% yr/yr to 100.000 million bushels, but still below the 2007 record high of 123.29 million bushels.

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