Objective:                  

To evaluate the performance of selected forage wheat and triticale in northwestern Montana

Personnel:                     

J.A. Torrion, Amanda Shine, E. Nafi, Simon Fordyce, Pat Carr

Summary:

This trial was planted on a silt loam ground with known subsurface moisture recharge. Other management information is provided in Table 1.

The average forage yield (on a dry matter basis) was 9.6 t/A which was 20% more than last year. The FX 1001 triticale had the highest yield at 11.5 t/A and Ray wheat had the lowest, at 5.9 t/A (Table 2). Days to heading averaged 171 days, ranging from 167 days for MTF 20187 wheat to 178 days for Willow Creek wheat. The tallest variety was FX 1001 triticale at 73 inch and the shortest one was 47.4 inch Ray wheat. The FX 1001 also had the greatest relative feeding value (RFV) at 102%. On the other hand, MTF 20187 wheat had the lowest RFV of 81%. However, RFV values amongst all entries did not vary with each other (Table 2).

Grain yields averaged 121 bu/A and ranged from only 88 bu/A (Willow Creek wheat) to 155 bu/A (Ray wheat). Grain protein averaged 12.6% and ranged from 11.3% for Ray wheat to 13.7% Willow Creek wheat.

 

Table 1. Management information
Seeding date: 9/24/2019 Field Location: Y2
Julian date: 267 Harvest date: 7/7 (forage)
8/26 (grain)
Seeding rate: 16 plants/ft2 Julian date: 188 and 238
Previous crop: Canola Soil type: Creston Silt loam
Herbicide: 5/5: Huskie Tillage: Conventional
Insecticide: None Soil residual nutrient (NO3-, P, K lb/A): 60-12-260
Fungicide: None Nutrient fertilizer applied Pre-plant: 201-45-80 (10S)
( N, P2O5, K20 lb/A): 4/10: Spring topdress 100-0-0

 

 

Table 2. Agronomic performance of wheat and triticale forage entries
Species       Forage Grain
Cultivar Heading Height Moisture RFV Yield Yield Protein
  Julian in ----------------%---------------- tons/ac bu/ac %
Triticale FX 1001 169 73 65 102 11.5 123 12.7
Wheat MTF 20188 168 57.1 65 93 10.3 127 12.7
Wheat MTF 20189 169 59.3 67 94 10 114 13.1
Wheat Willow Creek 178 63.5 66 93 9.9 88 13.7
Wheat MTF 20186 174 57 67 90 9.3 122 12.3
Wheat MTF 20187 167 50.7 65 81 8.9 118 12.3
Wheat Ray 177 47.4 67 91 7 155 11.3
Mean 171 58.3 66 92 9.6 121 12.6
CV% 0.7 3.9 3.5 9.5 10.2 7.5 4.5
LSD 0.05 1.9 37 NS NS 1.7 13.5 0.8
P-value (Cultivar) <0.001 <0.001 NS NS <0.01 <0.001 <0.001

Height = height at forage harvest, NS = not significant,  RFV = relative feed value

*Forage yield on a dry matter basis and grain yield at 13% moisture.