Grades and grade requirements for oats

Grade Minimum limits— Maximum limits— Test weight per bushel (pounds) Sound oats (percent) Heat-damaged kernels (percent) Foreign material (percent) Wild oats (percent) U.S. No. 1 36 97 0.1 2 2 U.S. No. 2 33 94 0.3 3 3 U.S. No. 3 1 30 90 1 4 5 U.S. No. 4 2 27 80 3 5 10 U.S. Sample grade— U.S. Sample grade are oats which: (a) Do not meet the requirements for the grades U.S. Nos. 1, 2, 3, or 4; or (b) Contain 8 or more stones which have an aggregate weight in excess of 0.2 percent of the sample weight, 2 or more pieces of glass, 3 or more crotalaria seeds (Crotalaria spp.), 2 or more castor beans (Ricinus communis L.), 4 or more particles of an unknown foreign substance(s) or a commonly recognized harmful or toxic substance(s), 8 or more cocklebur (Xanthium spp.) or similar seeds singly or in combination, 10 or more rodent pellets, bird droppings, or equivalent quantity of other animal filth per 11⁄8 to 11⁄4 quarts of oats; or (c) Have a musty, sour, or commercially objectionable foreign odor (except smut or garlic odor); or (d) Are heating or otherwise of distinctly low quality. 1 Oats that are slightly weathered shall be graded not higher than U.S. No. 3. 2 Oats that are badly stained or materially weathered shall be graded not higher than U.S. No. 4.