Dynamics of triticale growth and quality during the season

Authors: OTTMAN, MICHAEL - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA; COBLENTZ, WAYNE

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/8/2021
Publication Date: 4/8/2021
Citation: Ottman, M., Coblentz, W.K. 2021. Dynamics of triticale growth and quality during the season. Symposium Proceedings. 2021 Annual University of Arizona Alfalfa & Forage Workshop April 8, 2021. Maricopa, AZ.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Triticale is a hybrid derived from crossing wheat and rye, and serves as a winter-cereal grain that is usually grown for forage. Typically, the boot or soft-dough stages of growth are targeted most frequently for harvest, where a boot-stage harvest exhibits the most desirable quality characteristics for lactating dairy cows, but yield is maximized (later) at the soft-dough stage of growth. Fourteen triticale cultivars were planted at Maricopa (AZ) on 18 December 2019, and both yield and quality characteristics were evaluated on seven harvest dates as the plants matured. Harvests were initiated in late February and continued through late May. Generally, dry matter yield increased in a mostly linear relationship with time through the soft-dough stage of growth, but plateaued thereafter due to a declining growth rate. Forage energy density declined as plants matured, reaching a minimum at the anthesis or early heading stages of growth. Energy density then stabilized as plants partitioned carbohydrates into the filling grain head. This process of grain fill offsets continuing declines in energy density within leaf and stem tissues. Although the energy values associated with forages after grain fill is initiated tend to stabilize, plants continue to change structurally, and these changes also should be considered in management decisions related to an appropriate harvest stage or date.