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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #380311
Research Project: Improving Nutrient Use Efficiency and Mitigating Nutrient and Pathogen Losses from Dairy Production Systems

Location: Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research

Title: Effects of growth stage on yield and quality characteristics of triticale

Author
item Coblentz, Wayne
item AKINS, MATTHEW - University Of Wisconsin
item CAVADINI, JASON - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/6/2021
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The use of triticale in dairy-cropping systems has expanded greatly in recent years, partly in response to environmental pressures, such as a desire to capture N from land-applied manure, and/or to improve stewardship of the land by providing winter ground cover. Generally, triticale functions as a winter-annual forage, with most production scenarios in the north-central United States focused on fall establishment after removal of corn silage or soybeans, followed by harvest as silage the following spring or early summer. Current recommendations for harvesting triticale at boot stage (in part) prioritize an acceptable planting date for the subsequent crop of corn or soybeans, and are not necessarily based on common trade-off considerations between DM yield and nutritive value. In central Wisconsin, triticale reached the boot stage of growth (stage = 43) during the last week of May, thereby permitting a subsequent double-cropping program despite the short growing season. Furthermore, a boot-stage harvest is compatible with the needs for highly-digestible fiber in the diets of lactating dairy cows. While harvesting at the soft-dough stage has often been recommended for cereal-grain forages, and will likely maximize DM yield, this growth stage will not occur in central Wisconsin for triticale until about July 1, thereby precluding a subsequent double-crop of corn. Based on a 30-h incubation, in-vitro fiber digestibility (NDFD) declined by approximately 1 percentage unit for each growth stage unit, or about 10 percentage units as plant maturity progressed through each principal growth stage (e.g., booting, heading, etc.). While DM digestibility and energy density may improve with the physiological process of grain fill, NDFD is independent of this process and becomes very poor at advanced growth stages.