As COVID restrictions start to lift, life is returning to a semblance of normal for food manufacturers. However, ongoing problems sourcing ingredients and rising prices continue to impact production, particularly for manufacturers of products that require gluten-free oats. Reasons for the current oat shortage are varied, but drought tops the list. Due in large part to climate change, the areas of the U.S. that grow oats are hotter and drier in recent years, leading to drought conditions that have reduced the output of oat crops by about half. A grasshopper infestation has further reduced supply, and the oats that remain are of lower quality.

Another factor in the current oat shortage comes down to crop prices, which vary from one year to the next. In the most recent growing season, wheat commanded higher prices, so growers planted fewer oats. Manufacturers of gluten-free oat products must also compete with rising demand for oat milk and other oat products, making gluten-free oats even harder to come by.