Oats, plant cultivated for its edible grain. Oats are used as feed for cattle and horses and also for human consumption as a cereal. The plant grows widely in the cooler temperate regions of the world and is often used for hay, silage, and pasture. The dried straw is a popular bedding for livestock.

Cultivated oats were probably derived from the wild oat by farmers in the Middle East and Europe about 4,500 years ago. Oats are now important rotation crops on livestock and grain farms in the northern United States, Canada, and northern and eastern Europe. In the United States, many states grow the crop, including South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Oats are normally sown in early spring and harvested in mid to late summer. In the southern United States and in the southern regions of Europe, oats may be sown in the fall. The most widely planted species is the common oat. The wild oat is a common and often costly weed that grows in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Oat grains, as harvested, consist of highly digestible groat (seed) held within an indigestible hull. Compared with other grains, whole (unhulled) oats produce feeds that are high in protein (12 percent), fat (5 percent), and fiber (12 to 14 percent) and low in carbohydrates (about 64 percent). Oat varieties are being developed with improved yields; higher protein and energy content; and stronger resistance to rust, to virus diseases, and to attacks by insects.

As cereals and porridges, which are derived from roasted grains, oats are high in protein and are particularly good sources of thiamine, or vitamin B₁ (see Vitamin). Oats are also used in ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and a wide variety of processed foods. Oat flour contains antioxidants that retard rancidity in fat-containing foods. It is sometimes an ingredient of such products as peanut butter, margarine, chocolate, and baked goods and it has been used as a preservative inner coating for the paper bags used to package such items as salted nuts, coffee, and potato chips. Oat flour also serves as a fat stabilizer in ice cream and other dairy products. The most important industrial product from oats is furfural, a chemical derived from oat hulls and used as a solvent in various refining industries.

Scientific classification: Oats belong to the family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae). The common oat is classified as Avena sativa and the wild oat as Avena fatua.