Oats Mar '26 (ZOH26)
| Barchart Symbol | ZO |
| Exchange Symbol | ZO |
| Contract | Oats |
| Exchange | CBOT |
| Tick Size | 1/4 cent per bushel ($12.50 per contract) |
| Margin/Maintenance | $1,375/1,250 |
| Daily Limit | 25 cents per bushel ($1,250 per contract) Expanded limit 40 cents |
| Contract Size | 5,000 bushels |
| Months | Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Dec (H, K, N, U, Z) |
| Trading Hours | 7:00p.m. - 7:45a.m. and 8:30a.m. - 1:20p.m. (Settles 1:15p.m.) (Sun-Fri) CST |
| Value of One Futures Unit | $50 |
| Value of One Options Unit | $50 |
| Last Trading Day | The business day prior to the 15th calendar day of the contract month |
Description
Oats are seeds or grains of a genus of plants that thrive in cool, moist climates. There are about 25 species of oats that grow worldwide in the cooler temperate regions. The oldest known cultivated oats were found inside caves in Switzerland and are believed to be from the Bronze Age. Oats are usually sown in early spring and harvested in mid to late summer, but they may be sown in the fall in southern regions of the northern hemisphere. Oats are used in many processed foods such as flour, livestock feed, and furfural, a chemical used as a solvent in various refining industries. The oat crop year runs from June to May. Oat futures and options are traded at the CME Group.
Prices - CME oat futures prices (Barchart.com symbol ZO) on the nearest-futures chart in 2025 closed the year down -8.5% at $3.0250 per bushel.
Supply - World oat production in 2025/26 rose by +7.7% yr/yr to 24.304 million metric tons, remaining above the record low of 19.340 million metric tons posted in 2010/11. World annual oat production in the past five decades has dropped very sharply from levels above 50 million metric tons in the early 1970s. The world's largest oat producers in 2025/26 were the European Union (32.9% of world production), Canada (16.1%), Russia (15.6%), and Australia (6.2%).
US oat production in the 2025/26 marketing year rose by +1.9% yr/yr to 69.626 million bushels. US oat production has fallen sharply from levels above 1 billion bushels seen from the early 1900s into the early 1960s. US farmers harvest 944,000 acres of oats in 2025/26, up +5.6% yr/yr. That is far below the almost 40 million acres harvested back in the 1950s. The oat yield in 2025/26 fell by -3.4% yr/yr to 73.8 bushels per acre. Oat stocks in the US as of December 2025 rose by +7.4% yr/yr to 56.012 million bushels. The largest US oat-producing states in 2025 were Minnesota (20.6% of US production), North Dakota (19.4%), South Dakota (16.7%), Iowa (6.6%), Wisconsin (6.0%), and Texas (3.4%).
Demand - US oats usage in 2025/26 fell by -5.7% yr/yr to 137.000 million bushels. US oats usage in 2025/26 was 55.6% for food, alcohol, and industrial uses; 40.1% for feed and residual uses; 4.2% for seed; and the rest for export.
Trade - US exports of oats in 2025/26 fell by -18.6% yr/yr to 2.000 million bushels. US imports of oats in 2025/26 rose by +3.6% yr/yr to 74.000 million bushels.
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