December 8,
2004: Triticale, the man-made hybrid of wheat
(genus Triticum) and rye (genus Secale), was first developed
by a Scottish botanist in the late 19th century and
then improved by German and Canadian breeders in the
1940s and '50s. The goal was to create a small grain
as hardy as rye but with the milling and baking qualities
of wheat.
Although so far triticale has remained a minor crop
with limited commercial markets, it periodically receives
renewed interest as a potential alternative crop for
mixed grain and livestock producers.
In 2003 and 2004, Iowa State University agronomy professor
Lance Gibson worked with two farms in northwest Iowa—the
Dordt College Ag Stewardship Center in Sioux Center,
and Paul and Karen Mugge in Sutherland—to compare
triticale to oats. Results from the trials are summarized
by Rick Exner in the Fall 2004 newsletter of Practical
Farmers of Iowa.
Triticale can be used for either a feed or forage crop,
and both spring-planted and fall-planted varieties are
available, giving it great flexibility within organic
crop rotations. It also works well as a nurse crop for
establishing forages. Triticale is attractive as a livestock
feed because its nutritional profile is better than
that of most other small grains. It contains more lysine
than corn and more crude protein than either corn or
oats. It also has less fiber than oats, Exner writes,
which makes it a better feed for growing and finishing
animals.
The Iowa farmers trialed one spring triticale variety,
Trimark 37812, and one winter variety, NE426GT. The
spring triticale yields over two years on the two farms
ranged from 53.2 bu/ac to 91.3 bu/ac. Oat yields under
the same conditions ranged from 103.4 bu/ac to 153.8
bu/ac. Because triticale is a heavier grain, however—it's
usually given a 56-lb test weight versus a 32-lb test
weight for oats—harvested weights on the two grains
were more comparable (from 2,980-5,112 lbs/ac for triticale
versus 3,308-4,922 lbs/ac for oats).
Organic farmer Paul Mugge, who has been growing triticale
for the past three or four years, told New Farm he is
particularly excited about the prospects for winter
triticale. In 2003/2004 his trial of the variety NE426GT—recently
developed by breeders at the University of Nebraska—yielded
90 bu/ac, or 5,040 lbs/ac.
Other varieties that showed good performance in test
plots include: (winter varieties) Alzo, Décor,
DANKO Presto, Kitaro, Lamberto, NE95T426, Presto, Roughrider,
Trical Brand 336 and 815, Sorento, and Vero; (spring
varieties) AC Alta, AC William, Trical Brand 37812 and
46520, and Wapiti.
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