The Relationship of Total Nitrogen Percentage to Yield, Test Weight and Groat Percentage of Oats Grown at Different Locations

With increased interest in crop quality, the effect of environmental factors on various species is becoming of major importance. One criterion of quality in the oat grain is nitrogen content. Frey found that the average protein content of the oat grain varied as much as 25 percent from year to year, and that environmental effects on the protein fractions seemed to be additive. Teply et al. and Hunt et al. concluded that environmental factors materially influenced the niacin and pantothenic acid contents of wheat and corn, respectively. Wiggans and Frey showed that some varieties of oats were able to utilize limited amounts of soil nitrogen better than others. They also showed a marked increase in grain nitrogen with an increasing nitrogen level in the soil. Leong found, however, that fertilizer had little effect on the thiamine content of wheat. The present study was initiated to determine the effect of location on the nitrogen content of various strains of oats grown in the Uniform North Central States Oat Nursery