(Avena nuda)
With twice the protein, ten times the fibre and five times the iron of white rice, Gehl oats are a brilliantly nutritious alternative to rice. Businesses across Canada took notice. In 2009, Wedge Farms Ltd. began marketing these naked oats as the “Rice of the Prairies.” Because the seeds are virtually free of surface-borne hairs, the Gehl variety has smooth kernals and is attractive to producers, handlers and consumers alike. Then in 2011, The Campbell Company of Canada began replacing rice with these hull-less oats as part of their product called “Nourish,” which
Campbell’s developed to address the growing issue of hunger in Canada and abroad.
Pictured growing in a Prairie field at the left and in the raw form at right, chefs and home cooks can also use it in barley recipes like Lentil Barley Salad with Roasted Tomatoes or simply steamed to serve as a side dish.
Bred by Dr. Vern Burrows and Dr. Bill Collins for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Gehl hulless oats were the first “bald-seeded hull-less oat” produced in Canada, and possibly internationally and because of that the test weights are higher and greater amounts of the grain to be deposited in storage bins, rail cars and ship holds.
Courtesy of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
