New Forage Oat Variety Offers New Grazing Option
QUEENSLAND - A new Queensland-bred forage oat variety, Genie, offers a new grazing option and significant million-dollar benefits to livestock producers.Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries, Tim Mulherin, said the breeding program demonstrated how government and industry could work together to benefit Australian farmers.
Mr Mulherin said funding and field support from Heritage Seeds and Meat and Livestock Australia were integral to the oat breeding program.
In launching the variety developed at the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries' Leslie Research Station, Mr Mulherin said that Genie's high yield, rust resistance and late season production made it an ideal forage crop for autumn, winter and early summer grazing in Queensland and NSW.
"In DPI&Fs' forage oat trials, Genie has consistently yielded 10-15 per cent more than current commercial varieties,'' Mr Mulherin said.