When to Harvest Winter Oats

When to Harvest Grain

• Harvest winter oats for grain production when the majority of the grains are fully ripe and take on a golden brown color. Testing the oats will reveal a moisture content ranging from 10 to 15 percent, though 13 percent is recommended. In most locations where winter oats can be grown, this will occur from late June to early July.

When to Harvest Hay

• After you've harvested the grain from your winter oats, you will have a field full of lovely, naked stalks. These make excellent hay that you can feed to animals or use as a mulch for other garden plants. Harvest oat hay between the boot and early dough stages.

Identifying the Boot Stage

• You'll know the oats are at the boot stage when the grain heads are enclosed by the sheath of the upper leaves. Next comes the milk stage, wherein the grain will release a bit of milky liquid when compressed. The dough stage occurs after the grain is largely over ripened and becomes a soft, doughy consistency. If you harvest the oats for human consumption, plan to harvest the hay shortly after the grain.

Oats for the Garden

• Oats are often planted as cover crops, green manure or to add additional nitrogen to the soil. There are better options for cover crops, such as rye, but oats that are tilled back in to the soil give an excellent return by slowly releasing their nitrogen to the soil. You can also plow any part that you choose not to harvest for a similar effect.