Oats

From Cornburning

From someone who just got done trying oats ..

They burn well, although they need to be free of bigger pieces of straw as this may plug your auger ..

Clinker is simliar to corn but smaller pieces,,

There is more fly ash and dust with oats then corn And I don't think there is as much heat plus oats are lighter so you need to burn more ..

I would personally grow some rye if your going to grow your own fuel as rye is a hard grain and weights pretty close to corn per bushel and is easy to grow

Oats have close to the same BTU per pound value as corn, but as bio has stated, they are lighter; meaning you have to burn more. My Dad has burned a lot of oats this past year in his LDJ Boiler. It worked fine until the temps got down around 30 deg. At that point, it could not make enough heat, even with the feedrate to the max. Oats are great for fall and spring heat.

He has also burned rye in this boiler. It burns as hot or hotter than corn. It makes clinkers that look like lava rock. We are planting a few acres of rye this year, rather than corn, because it is cheap to seed and plant, and you can go directly from the field to the stove if you harvest at the right time (no drying like corn).