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AN223

Triticale as a Crop for the Southeastern United States1 A. R. Blount, Bob Myer, Cheryl Mackowiak, and Ron Barnett2

Triticale (X Triticosecole Wittmack) is a man-made during the cool season. Typically, these annuals are planted developed by crossing and . This robust cereal in October through December. Depending on weather is grown worldwide for its and forage. Triticale has and rainfall, they are grazed or green chopped from late considerable potential either as a grain crop or forage crop autumn/early winter to mid/late spring. For silage or hay, for the southeastern United States. Triticale is well suited to harvest is typically in April. Triticale for forage fits the same the multi-cropping systems common in this region. growing period as the other cool-season annual used in the southeastern United States. Triticale as a Grain Crop in the Initially, triticale that were developed for grain Southeastern United States were used in cool-season forage programs with unsatisfac- Initially, the thrust of triticale breeding programs in the tory results in the southeastern United States. Recent Southeast focused on development of grain varieties. releases of forage-type triticale cultivars have resulted in a Several cultivars were developed and released in the 1980s surge in acreage, especially on dairy farms. Acreage today is (Blount et al. 2006), and this promoted some triticale estimated at 400,000 acres in 2012. Acreage is expected to grain production in the southeastern United States. These continue to increase significantly in the future. varieties were spring types, but were planted in the fall in the Southeast. Back-to-back abnormally cold winters in Results of Forage Yield Trials the 1980s resulted in considerable winter kill. This led to Cool-season forage variety tests conducted in the south- decreased production and interest in triticale as a grain eastern United States by Auburn University, University crop. of Georgia, and University of Florida are summarized in Tables 1, 2, and 3. The Auburn test summary is an average Triticale as a Forage Crop in the of results from eight locations over three consecutive years; Southeastern United States the Georgia summary is an average of three locations over two years. The Florida test is from one location for one year. In the Southeast, summers are hot and humid, and winters In each test, the triticale forage varieties either ranked at the are typically mild. Small grain (mostly and rye) top or near the top for seasonal forage dry matter yield. and annual ryegrass are commonly planted in the autumn to provide forage for grazing, green chop, silage, or hay

1. This document is AN223, one of a series of the Animal Sciences Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date August 2009. Revised September 2013. Reviewed January 2017. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. A. R. Blount, professor; Bob Myer, emeritus professor; Cheryl Mackowiak, associate professor; and Ron Barnett, emeritus professor; UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center, Quincy, FL 32351.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. Present Status of Triticale Forage also been reported in both composition and feeding value among triticale varieties (Myer and Lozano 2004; Emile et For the United States as a whole, triticale for forage is al. 2007). Field reports indicate no drop in production a minor crop. Presently there are two main production when dairy cows are switched from a silage-based regions: 1) the southern Great Plains and 2) the West Coast, total mixed ration to a triticale silage-based total mixed especially California. In the Great Plains, triticale forage ration. acreage is estimated at 50,000 acres (2008; Resource Inc. estimate). In this region, triticale forage is grown to provide grazing for stocker beef cattle and, more recently, Recommended Triticale Forage for silage on dairy farms. On the West Coast, triticale forage Varieties is produced on about 200,000 acres (2008) and is grown For best results, only triticale forage varieties specially primarily by dairy farmers for silage and green chop. developed for and/or adapted to the southeastern United In the southeastern United States, dairy farmers are the States should be planted. Variety recommendations for the primary growers of triticale forage. Triticale fits well in southeastern United States include TriCal 342, TriCal 2700, the common rotation of maize for silage during the warm and Monarch triticale. Both TriCal 342 and Monarch were season and an annual forage such as triticale for green chop developed by the University of Florida and University of and/or silage during the cool season. Yields of up to 18 ton Georgia. TriCal 2700 was bred and released by Resource of triticale forage per acre (about 3–4 tons of dry forage) are Seeds, Inc. (Gilroy, CA) and is now marketed by Syngenta. common. Most of these dairy farms pump manure effluent These three forage-type cultivars are well adapted to the through the irrigation system to the forage crop fields as the growing conditions in the Southeast. More forage-type primary means of nutrient fertilization. Thus, these farmers triticale varieties adapted to the Southeast are expected to are interested in crops that not only yield a high amount be released in the future. of nutritious forage, but also use nutrients provided by Planting and management of triticale is much like that of the effluent (wastes). Dairy farmers have noted that forage other small grain cereals grown for forage in the Southeast triticale is an effective crop to capture and use the effluent. (e.g., wheat and rye). Further information can be found Recent research conducted by the University of Florida has in the EDIS publication SS-AGR-161 Forage Planting and shown that triticale grown for forage was very effective in Establishment Methods (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ag107). using a relatively large amount of N and P (Mackowiak, Blount, and Myer 2008). Further trials using forage triticale for nutrient mitigation are under way. Summary Triticale has been available in the southeastern United Nutritional Value of Triticale States for more than 30 years but it never developed into a significant grain crop in this region. The recent Forage development of high-yielding forage varieties has renewed There is limited data on the nutritional value of triticale interest in it as a forage and has increased triticale acreage. forage grown in the southeastern United States for cattle. This interest is particularly apparent with dairy farmers; Compositional data collected so far indicates that triticale however, triticale forage may also be suitable pasture forage forage has similar nutritional value to other small grain for beef cattle grazing. cereal forages and annual ryegrass (Table 4; Myer, Mack- owiak, and Blount, 2008). The average values in Table 4 References are from samples harvested every four weeks during the cool season. The samples were harvested just before or at Blount, A. R., R. D. Barnett, P. L. Pfahler, J. W. Johnson, jointing in the . Samples harvested at a later maturity G. D. Buntin, and B. M. Cunfer. 2006. Rye and Triticale (e.g., boot stage, stage) would have less crude Breeding in the South. SS-AGR-42. Gainesville: University of and soluble carbohydrate, and higher fiber concentrations. Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. http:// edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ag147. Studies done in other parts of the world have generally reported that the nutritional value of triticale forage for Day, J. L., A. E. Coy, and J. D. Gasset. 2008. Georgia 2007-08 ruminant animals was similar to that for other small-grain Small Grain Performance Tests. Crop and Soil Sciences Res. cereal forages at similar stages of maturity (for a review Rep. no. 715. Athens, GA: Georgia Agricultural Experiment see Myer and Lozano, 2004). However, much variation has Station, University of Georgia.

Triticale as a Forage Crop for the Southeastern United States 2 Emile, J. C., C. C. Joblin, F. Surault, and Y. Barriere. 2007. “Genetic Variations in the Digestibility in Sheep of Selected Whole-Crop Cereals Used as Silages.” Animal 1 (8): 1122–1125.

Glass, G. M., and E. van Santen. 2008. Performance of Small Grain Varieties for Forage in Alabama. and Soils Series no. 293. Auburn, AL: Alabama Agricultural Experi- ment Station, Auburn University.

Mackowiak, C., A. R. Blount, and R. O. Myer. 2008. “Seasonal Productivity and Nutrient Uptake Comparisons among Cool-Season Annual Forage.” ASA CSSA SSSA joint meeting abstracts CD-ROM (no. 569-12), ASA CSSA SSSA, Madison, WI (abstract).

Myer, R. O., and A. J. Lozano. 2004. “Triticale in Livestock Production.” In Triticale Improvement and Production, edited by M. Mergoum, 49–58. Rome, Italy: FAO.

Myer, R. O., C. Mackowiak, and A. R. Blount. 2008. “Water Soluble and Soluble Carbohydrate Concentrations in Cool-Season Annual Forages in the Southeastern USA.” ASA CSSA SSSA joint meeting abstracts CD-ROM (no.568- 9), ASA CSSA SSSA, Madison, WI (abstract).

Triticale as a Forage Crop for the Southeastern United States 3 Table 1. Three-year average seasonal forage yield (dry weight basis) of triticale, wheat, oat, and rye grown at eight locations in Alabama during the cool season (2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08).a Variety Yield, lb/ac Yield range, lb/ac Triticale TriCal 336 5,751 4,932–8,336 TriCal 2700 5,269 4,636–5,639 TriCal 342 5,114 4,211–6,401 Wheat GA Gore 4,794 4,176–5,674 Oat Florida 501 4,561 4,055–8,118 Rye Maton 6,878 5,683–11,605 Wren’s Abruzzi AL 6,149 4,767–10,860 a Replicated small plot trials that were planted late September to early October each year; the plots were harvested 2–4 times during the cool season (late fall/winter/spring). Coefficient of variation = 12%; least significant difference (0.10) = 436. Source: Glass and van Santen, 2008. Table 2. Two-year average seasonal forage yield (dry weight basis) of triticale, wheat, oat, and rye grown at three locations in Georgia during the cool season (2006–07 and 2007–08).a Species Variety Yield, lb/ac Triticale TriCal 2700 8,293 TriCal 336 7,902 TriCal 342 7,668 Wheat (mean; n=6)b 7,939 Oat (mean; n=10) 6,501 Rye (mean; n=9) 8,169 a Replicated small plot trials that were planted during October each year; the plots were harvested 3–4 times during the cool season (winter/ spring). Standard error of the mean = 235; least significance difference (0.10) = 555. Source: Day et. al, 2008. b Mean across cultivars with the number of cultivars in the mean. Table 3. Seasonal forage yield (dry weight basis) of triticale, annual ryegrass, oat, and rye grown in North Florida during the 2007–08 cool season.a Species Variety Yield, lb/ac Yield range, lb/ac Triticale TriCal 2700 6,293 TriCal 342 4,474 Ryegrass (mean; n=4)b 4,250 3,695–4,981 Oat (mean; n=5) 3,694 3,010–4,499 Rye (mean; n=4) 3,418 2,651–3,632 a Replicated small plot trial that was planted during October; plots were harvested five times from January to May. Standard error of the mean = 304. b Mean across cultivars with the number of cultivars in the mean. Table 4. Average composition (% of dry forage) of annual forages grown in North Florida during the 2007–08 cool season.a Species Crude Protein NDFb WSCc ESCd Oat (n=4)e 28.2f 36.9f 22.3f 17.4f Rye (n=4) 24.7g 41.5g 22.6f 14.5g Ryegrass (n=4) 25.9g 41.5g 21.5f 15.3fg Triticale (n=2) 25.5g 40.6fg 21.4f 14.2g a Small plot trial planted in October; plots were harvested five times from January to May. Source: Myer et al., 2008. b Neutral detergent fiber. c Water-soluble carbohydrates. d Ethanol-soluble carbohydrates. e Number of cultivars represented in the mean for each component. f,g Means in the same column with a different superscript differ (P<0.05).

Triticale as a Forage Crop for the Southeastern United States 4