Development and application of novel dehulling and stabilisation technology to enhance the value of oats as a sustainable feed for ruminants and monogastrics

Oats are a high value livestock feed however the use of oats has diminished being replaced by wheat and barley. the fibrous hull of oats reduces its digestibility and its nutritional quality. Current methods of removing the husk (dehulling) from the oats are expensive as they have been developed to remove the husks to a level (>99.5%) required by the human food sector and are a “bottleneck” in exploiting oats for livestock feed. For the animal feed sector such levels of removal are less crucial so that alternative, less expensive dehulling systems may be feasible. This proposal will develop and apply innovative engineering approaches to the development of low cost and efficient systems of dehulling and stabilising oat grain, to capitalise on the value of the oat grain as a high quality livestock feed for ruminants and monogastrics and deliver commercial return to Senova. Differences in ease of dehulling between oat varieties and impact of dehulling efficiency on feed value will be measured. The project will also quanify the economic benefit of using the oat husks, currently regarded as a “waste” product, as a source of platform chemicals adding value to the production chain.