What is Triticale: Triticale is a man made cross between wheat and rye. Wheat x Rye Wheat - high feed grain yield and quality + Rye – high biomass and high Lysine (protein) content, drought resistance = Triticale

- Reduced Growing Costs
- Quality Feed Grain, High in Protein and Lysine
- Excellent High Biomass for Wholecrops
- Performs well on lighter/marginal soils
- Excellent disease resistance
- Unattractive to rabbits
- Well suited to Organic production

For details on the folowing subjects reference Logo Please use the links below:
Husbandry Guidelines
Farmer Testimonials
Wholecrop options
Ideal where rabbits are a problem
Organic options
Wildlife seed mixtures

Husbandry Guidelines:

Sowing Date:November-Mid April.
Logo can be sown late in the autumn, but can also safely be sown throughout the spring. Sowing earlier in the spring should give better root development and improve performance on light land in dry seasons. Early sowing is recommended where the crop is to be harvested for grain.

Seed Rates
Seed rates should be similar to those used for spring wheat as the crop has a tendency to produce fewer tillers than spring barley. Depending on soil conditions a seed rate of 375-450 seeds /m² should be used. With an average thousand grain weight (TGW) this would equate to 75kg/acre or 185kg/hectare.

Fertiliser
Total N requirement will depend on soil type and the previous crop. For crops drilled in the spring then 60% of the N is to be applied at 2-3 leaves with the balance 10-14 days later. A maximum of 80 units/acre or 100kg/ha is recommended.

Fungicide Use
Logo has excellent resistance to all major ear and leaf diseases including septoria and fusarium. Crops have been grown successfully without fungicides. Where fungicides are used the choice of product, it’s timing and application rate will depend on local and seasonal disease pressure.

Plant Growth Regulators
With long, moderately stiff straw, the use of growth regulators is recommended particularly in high fertility situations. In low to medium risk situations a growth regulator should be applied at growth stage 31. Where lodging risk is particularly high a full growth regulator programme should be adopted.

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Testimonial: Richard Hallifield farms 2,000 acres in arable and beef production in Repton, Derbyshire. He was investigating what options he had for an area of reclaimed gravel extraction site. Concerned about planting wheat, or even barley, spring triticale was suggested as a hardy and tolerant crop, which would thrive on lighter, marginal ground.

Crop inputs were:
- 2.5 bags/acre 25.9.9
- 1 application of Manganese
- 0.1 litre/ha Modus growth regulator
- £9 per acre herbicide
- No fungicides

"The crop looked well right through the season with a colour that did not suggest it was struggling on the strange soil type or lack of fertility. The Logo produced a crop that would have been acceptable to Mr. Hallifield on good ground but was particularly pleasing on the soil that it was grown on. "We have a pretty good idea what we have in store and expect that to be 115-120 tonnes. With a yield of 3.1 tonnes to the acre we would be very pleased with any spring cereal but the Logo gave us additional bonus."

"The cleanliness of the crop has resulted in a very bright sample of straw." Mr Hallifield's son Andrew, who runs the beef enterprise on the farm, particularly appreciates the value of the straw. "We use most of the straw from the farm but we have been offered a premium for the Logo straw due to it's bright, golden appearance," comments Andrew. "We had 275 big square bales off the fields which weighed at least 0.3 tonne/bale. That's well over 2 tonnes of straw to the acre".With an actual financial return of approximately £200/acre over and above the crop inputs, the value of Logo as a low input crop is clear.

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Wholecrop options:

Logo is used extensively in Northern Ireland as a high output, low input wholecrop. Judging by the on farm performance of the crop in 2004 in England and Wales it is likely to replace much of the spring barley/wheat which is grown for wholecrop.

Mr Matthias of Bangeston Farm, Pembroke was “Very impressed,” with his first crops of Logo. “Having tried spring barley, winter wheat and maize in the past the Logo appears to be very well suited to our farm,” comments Mr Matthias. “It stood well and yielded 9-10 tonnes/acres of fresh weight with minimal growing costs on shallow soil. It also allowed us to establish an excellent ley under the crop.”

Logo / Dieta White Lupin Wholecrop Mix

The “Protein Booster” mix is a blend of 37kg of Logo and 38kg of Dieta White Lupins, to be sown at 75 kg/acre. It has been shown to produce excellent yields of protein rich, high energy forage. The slightly later maturity makes Logo the ideal companion for Lupins.

Typical Yield and Analysis
Yield 13-20 tonnes/acre, Dry matter 25-30% , D Value 70 , ME 10.5-11.5, Crude Protein 12-14%, Starch 13-17%,

- Sowing 75 kg/acre in late March-late April
- Weed Control the crops are very competitive but a pre emergence of 3L/ha of Stomp is suggested.
- Fertiliser Rates of N will depend on previous cropping but 40-60 kg/ha are suggested. - - - - - Fungicides the use of fungicides is not essential but should be applied at early emergence of the triticale if desired.
- Organics can be grown successfully in an organic regime.
- Harvest the crop should be harvested in August when the Logo is at the cheesy ripe stage. The Lupin seeds will be well formed but still quite moist.

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Ideal where rabbits are a problem: Where rabbits are a problem then growers traditionally prefer to use a spring sown crop rather than have autumn sown crops grazed over the winter period. Triticale had been thought to be less attractive to rabbits than other cereals but until now a spring sown option has not been available.

A situation where rabbits have affected crops is on the Bourne Brother's farm at Bickerton near Malpas, Cheshire. The Bournes grow 200 acres of spring sown crops which are taken as wholecrop for their dairy and beef enterprises.

Last spring, one field was put into Logo spring triticale and, in order to conduct a trial, a strip of spring wheat was drilled in the crop. Mr Bourne describes the results as -
"Remarkable, I have never seen such a dramatic difference in a crop. The wheat was being clobbered by the rabbits, but the Logo looked superb!"

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Logo suits Organic Regime: Triticale is known as a crop with superior disease resistance. Many producers who grow triticale under conventional methods choose not to use fungicides at all, so when grown under organic systems the crop tends to do well. One organic grower of Logo spring triticale has noted that there appears to be a benefit with weed control also. Mark Wycherley, who farms organically at Beckbury, Shropshire, feels that the triticale has the effect of suppressing weed growth rather more than the competition of the crop would normally result in.

Mr Wycherley grew 50 acres of Logo spring triticale this year and found the crops to be particularly free of weeds.

"Having discussed the issue with other organic farmers, there appears to be something about the triticale which inhibits the growth of neighbouring weed plants. This was particularly clear this time when we grew a reasonable acreage of Logo", comments Mr Wycherley.

"The fields we grew the crop in have a reasonably high weed burden. This was apparent in some areas of the field where we had to lift the drill out and pull forward, leaving a short length of the field unsown. Where we did this, the weed growth was expectantly high, but where the crop was sown next to the undrilled area the weed growth was almost non-existent. Whilst the mechanical weeder kept the weed growth in check in other crops the triticale seemed to have an additional effect".

"We harvested 92 tonnes from our 50 acres of Logo this year and believe that the spring triticale could suit many other organic producers who are looking for a spring cereal to produce a feed grain or cereal wholecrop. It certainly did not seem to suffer at all from not having a fungicide".

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Wildlife Seed Mixtures:

Triticale is usually the first choice cereal for inclusion in the Wildlife Seed Mixtures used within the Arable Stewardship Scheme. The most commonly used blend contains;
80% Triticale ,10% Kale ,10% Quinoa

This provides a range of seeds shed throughout the winter period. These mixtures are mainly established later in the spring so that the kale and quinoa stands a chance of establishing successfully in the warmer soil conditions. However, if a winter variety of triticale is sown there is a strong possibility that the crop will not vernalise if sown late in the spring, therefore produce no grain at all in year one. Using Logo as part of this mixture carries no such risk and will ensure a seed bearing crop is produced in the year of establishment.

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