[Chodosh] Chodosh Bulletin: Will Oats Be Yoshon Next Season?

[Y Herman]

OATS-MOSTLY YOSHON IN THE UPCOMING SEASON?


A short while ago, in an earlier Chodosh Bulletin, I suggested that this
coming Chodosh season perhaps most of the oats used in the USA may be
Yoshon, having been planted before the deadline before pesach, due to the
lateness of pesach on the solar calendar. It now seems that this prediction
was not accurate.


The raw data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated that
about 65% of the US oats crop was planted by 2 days before pesach (3 days
before “yom hanaf”, the second day of pesach). Since there are 2 opinions
in halacha of the deadline for planting in order for the crop to be
considered Yoshon, either 2 weeks or 3 days before the “yom hanaf”, it was
thought based on the USDA data that most of the oats used should be Yoshon
in the coming year, at least according to the second opinion. That
preliminary hope overlooked two vital facts: (1) much of the oats grown in
the US is used for animal feed and (2) much of the oats used for human
consumption is imported to the US from Canada. In Canada virtually all of
the oats are planted later than in the US, after pesach.


It is difficult to find hard data for how much of the oats planted in each
state in the US is used for animal feed. However, it is a general consensus
that this practice is common. Some data points of % planted for animal
feed: Texas almost 100% (Texas has the most area in the US planted with
oats), North Dakota=33% (2nd most area for oats), Nebraska=90%. With this
fact factored in, it appears that considerably less than 50% of the oats
planted in the US for human food consumption will be Yoshon this coming
season. Add to this the fact that it is common practice to use large
amounts of Canadian oats for cereals produced in the US, PLUS that very
little old oats are stored from earlier years. Therefore, my earlier
suggestion of hoping for most of the oats being Yoshon during the coming
year is not correct.


For spring wheat and barley, even the raw USDA data indicated that most of
the new crop was planted after pesach, making them “rov” Chodosh.


My thanks to Rabbi A. Schreiber for pointing out to me the animal feed
situation, and to Rabbi D. Gorelik for reminding me of the Canadian imports.


Yoseph Herman
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