Below is a summary of some of the topics discussed during the Oat Council's latest meetings
July 2025
The Oat Technical Committee was invited to participate in the Oat Council meeting held in Perth. The Oat Technical Committee is responsible for classification of milling oat varieties.
The Oat Council has finalised its draft strategic priorities, aligned with Grains Australia’s core pillars, and is now preparing to advance discussions on project concepts to support industry.
The Council received a market insight update from AEGIC, covering economic trends, market analysis, identified information gaps, and emerging priority areas including consumer interest in oats.
A subcommittee has been formed by the Oat Council to lead the development of an information project focused on the health benefits of oats.
Both the Oat Council and Oat Technical Committee were invited to tour PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats facility, strengthening engagement and understanding of processing operations.
April 2025
AEGIC delivered a presentation on market insights, highlighting key trends in customer preferences and outlining emerging opportunities in smaller but higher-value processed oat markets, particularly in North and Southeast Asia. The information is intended to support strategic planning within the Oat Council.
The Oat Council reviewed draft strategic priorities aligned with Grains Australia’s core pillars.
The Council received an update on health food projects underway and commencing through the University of New South Wales, with discussions focused on their alignment to the Council’s health food strategic priority.
Council members were briefed on the refreshed Grains Australia Strategic Plan.
A presentation was delivered on chemistries relating to maximum residue limits (MRLs).
A consultant provided a detailed overview of the global oat market via oatinformation.com, including a demonstration of the website’s Global Oat Dashboard.
The Trade and Market Access team delivered an update on the economic assessment of non-tariff measures (NTMs), a long-term project currently underway, highlighting the impact and significance of these measures on the Australian grain industry.
The Oat Council is aware of changes in global supply and is supporting further research to understand the impact on the Australian oat industry.
The Oat Council is continuing to refine and advance strategic priorities, developing comprehensive project proposals.
The Oat Council has clearly established a range of strategic priorities around increasing the supply of Australian oats for domestic and export markets and is exploring a range of tools and projects to assist the industry on this growth path.
Oat milk is one of a range of plant-based milks offering scope for health benefits through various forms of fortification, with the need for the industry to encourage appropriate food regulation to ensure such opportunities can be fully developed.
The Oat Council noted the OATSPO agronomic showcase event in Western Australia on 10 September and encourages strong industry attendance.
The Oat Council continued to work on the development of strategic priorities. The Oat Council has initiated working groups to develop potential actions and projects associated with the development of these priorities. One of the key focus items is to develop a pathway to match oat supply with projected growth in demand.
Market intelligence information continues to show Australian oats are valued for specific quality and health traits. Demand for Australian oats is high and expected to remain high.
The Oat Council endorsed the new research-focused Oat Grain Quality Consortium (OGQC) launched recently by the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The Oat Council is looking forward to working with the OGQC to bring positive outcomes for the Australian oat industry.
The Oat Council continued its work towards developing an ‘Oats strategic priority plan’ document similar to that already developed by the Barley Council. The Oat Council agreed to commence with focussing on addressing oat supply issues.
Given the excellent nutritional profile of oats and changing consumer nutritional habits, oats present tremendous opportunities for Australian growers. The Oat Council supports and encourages greater promotion of oats on the east coast and in Western Australia to encourage growers to grow more oats. The Council also encourages the development of agronomy packages to maximise yields and make oats more attractive to growers. It is stressed that these are preliminary ideas/discussions.
The Oat Council supports increasing industry’s promotion of new oat varieties so that they are adopted by more growers. This is to ensure end point royalties are directed towards current oat breeding programs.
Work is progressing well in formulating a new national framework for oat classification. The Oat Council received an update on preliminary findings relating to a proposed framework and the Council supported these findings. Grains Australia has established a short-term Oat Varietal Classification Steering committee for the specific purpose of examining all available information and formulating a recommendation to the Oat Council on the final framework.