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Oats are the seeds of any of several cereal grains in the genus Avena. They are used for food for people, and also as fodder for animals, especially poultry and horses. Oat straw is used as animal bedding and also sometimes used as animal feed.

Oats are often served as a porridge made from crushed oats or oatmealOatmeal is a product made by processing oats. In North America, oatmeal means any crushed oats, rolled oats, or cut oats used in recipes such as oatmeal cookies. The porridge made from this is also called oatmeal. However in other parts of the English-spe, and are also baked into cookies. As oat flourAn ingredient used in many foods, flour is a fine powder made from grain or other starchy food sources. It is most commonly made from wheat, but also maize (aka corn , rye, barley and rice, amongst many other grasses and non-grain plants. Flour is always or oatmeal, they are also used in a variety of other baked goods and cold cereals, and as an ingredient in muesliMuesli (spelled Musli in German and, especially in Switzerland, Muesli is the name of a mixture of breakfast cereals. The Swiss name is 'Birchermuesli'. The main ingredient for this popular dish is uncooked rolled oats, although more recently many variati and granolaGranola is a snack food consisting of nuts and rolled oats mixed with honey, and baked until crispy. During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast cereal type consistency. Dried fruit, particularly raisins or dates, are s.

Oats are native to EurasiaEarth Eurasia is the combined land mass of Europe and Asia. Eurasia is alternatively considered to be a continent, or a supercontinent composed of the continents of Europe and Asia. Due to the perceived cultural differences between Asia and Europe by Euro and appear to have been domesticated relatively late. They are now grown throughout the temperate zones. They have a lower summer heat requirement and greater tolerance of rain than other cereals like wheataestivum ''T. aethiopicum ''T. araraticum ''T. boeoticum ''T. carthlicum ''T. compactum ''T. dicoccon ''T. durum ''T. ispahanicum ''T. karamyschevii ''T. militinae T. monococcum ''T. polonicum T. spelta ''T. timopheevii ''T. trunciale ''T. turanicum ''T., ryeReferences: 2002-09-22 Rye Secale cereale is a grass grown extensively as a grain and forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat, although it is the singular species in the genus Secale . Rye grain is used to or barleyBarley Barley field Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Genus Hordeum Species Hordeum arizonicum ''Hordeum brachyantherum ''Hordeum bulbosum ''Hordeum californica ''Hordeum dep, so are particularly important in areas with cool, wet summers such as northwest Europe, even being grown successfully in Iceland. Oats are an annual plant, and can be planted either in the fall (for late summer harvest) or in the spring (for early autumn harvest).

Oat bran is the outer casing of the oat. Its consumption is believed to lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and possibly to reduce the risk of heart disease. Oats are also a safe grain for people with celiac disease ( gluten intolerance). However, oats frequently get mixed up with small amounts of wheat during harvest and processing, so the EU officially lists them as a crop containing gluten. Oats from Ireland and Scotland, where less wheat is grown, are less likely to be contaminated in this way.

Oat straw is also used in corn dolly making, and it is the favourite filling for lace-making pillows.

Oat extract can be used to soothe skin conditions, e.g. in baths, skin products, etc.

Historical attitudes towards oats vary. In England they were considered an inferior grain, while in Scotland they were, and still are, held in high esteem. A traditional saying in England is that "oats are only fit to be fed to horses and Scotsmen", to which the Scottish riposte is "and England has the finest horses, and Scotland the finest men". The discovery of the healthy cholesterol-lowering properties has led to wider appreciation of oats as human food. Oats grown in Scotland command a premium price throughout the United Kingdom as a result of these traditions.