Oat is the most important cereal grain especially in the cool and wet regions of Northwestern Europe and Northeastern America. It grows in temperate regions and is able to tolerant a higher level of rainfall than wheat.

Oat is used for human consumption in the form of oatmeal and rolled oats as well as in brewing of beer. Several popular breakfast cereals and bread are made from oat flour and rolled oat products. Oat is widely regarded as a healthy food and new variety of oats are grown to trap cholesterol in the body to help fight heart disease.

However, oat is more commonly used as animal feed. In particular, oat forms part of the daily intakes for both horses and cattle. Oat is also used in the manufacture of dog food and chicken feed while oat straw is a popular bedding material for farm animals.

Major oats producing countries are Russia, Canada, United States, Poland, Finland, Australia, Germany, Belarus, China and Ukraine. Collectively, the European Union is the largest oat producing block.

Oat futures contracts are traded in the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) under the ticker symbol O. Oat futures contracts mature in the months of March (H), May (K), July (N), September (U) and December (Z).