ZO Futures (Oats): Tick Value, Expiries, Order Flow
ZO, the CBOT Oats future, covers 5,000 bushels with a tick of 1/4 cent per bushel, worth $12.50. ZOZ6, the front month on September 25, 2026, has its first notice day November 30, 2026 and last trading day December 14, 2026.
Senzoukria · Futures contracts · Updated September 2026
Contract specifications
- Exchange
- CBOT (CME Group)
- Contract unit
- 5,000 bushels
- Tick size
- 1/4 cent per bushel
- Tick value
- $12.50
- Value of one cent per bushel
- $50
- Listed months in Senzoukria
- H, K, N, U, Z (Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Dec)
- Last trading day
- Business day before the 15th of the contract month
- Settlement
- Physical delivery
- Front month on Sep 25, 2026
- ZOZ6
ZO contract specifications
The contract unit is 5,000 bushels, quoted in cents per bushel. The minimum fluctuation is 1/4 cent per bushel, worth $12.50 per contract, and one cent per bushel is worth $50 per contract. Open contracts are settled by delivery no later than the second business day after the last trading day. Senzoukria's contract table holds the tick as 0.25 with a multiplier of 50 on the CBOT venue code.
ZO last trading day and next contracts
No trades are made after the business day preceding the 15th calendar day of the contract month.
Senzoukria's expiry engine keys on the last trading day, not on first notice day, so its default switch comes after first notice. For ZOZ6, the default moves to the next listed month on December 10, 2026 (4 calendar days before December 14, 2026), and ZOZ6 stays selectable with its badge until that date.
| Contract | Delivery month | First notice day | Last trading day |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZOZ6 | December 2026 | Nov 30, 2026 (Mon) | Dec 14, 2026 (Mon) |
| ZOH7 | March 2027 | Feb 26, 2027 (Fri) | Mar 12, 2027 (Fri) |
| ZOK7 | May 2027 | Apr 30, 2027 (Fri) | May 14, 2027 (Fri) |
| ZON7 | July 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 (Wed) | Jul 14, 2027 (Wed) |
| ZOU7 | September 2027 | Aug 31, 2027 (Tue) | Sep 14, 2027 (Tue) |
ZO tick value and P&L arithmetic
- One tick = 0.25 × $50 = $12.50 per contract.
- One cent per bushel = 4 ticks = $50 per contract.
- 20 ticks (5 cents) = $250 per contract, $750 on 3 contracts.
- One tick of slippage in the automatic backtest costs $12.50 per contract on each entry.
Reading ZO order flow
With row resolution off, a ZO footprint has one row per tick of 0.25 cents. The fixed steps give 2 ticks = 0.5, 4 ticks = 1, 8 ticks = 2, 16 ticks = 4, 32 ticks = 8 cents per row.
Oats use the same quarter-cent tick and 5,000-bushel unit as corn, so a tick is $12.50 and four ticks make a cent. The calendar is the same five months (H, K, N, U, Z). An oats footprint reads the ZO book only; nothing from corn prints there.
Using ZO in Senzoukria
- Symbol picker on a Rithmic or Databento CME source: type ZO; on September 25, 2026 the listed contract is ZOZ6 (December 2026), in the Grains family.
- Heatmap and DOM show that contract's book with CBOT as the venue in the ladder header.
- Replay lists ZO in the Grains group. In the automatic backtest, set Point value ($) to 50; the field defaults to 2, the MNQ value.
Related pages
- ZC — Corn
- Tick value
- Front-month contract
- Front month and expiry rules in Senzoukria
- Symbol picker
- Footprint charts
In the same section
Sources
- CBOT Rulebook, Chapter 15: Oat futures (2026-09-25)
- CME Group, Oats futures calendar (2026-09-25)
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- How much is one ZO tick worth?
- $12.50. The tick is 1/4 cent per bushel on 5,000 bushels; in Senzoukria's units that is 0.25 × $50 = $12.50.
- Does ZO use the same point value as ZC in Senzoukria?
- Yes: 50, since both are 5,000-bushel contracts quoted in cents per bushel with a quarter-cent tick.