Local Farmer Gets 70 Bushel Yield in First Try With Triticale
What is triticale?
It’s a high yielding grain,
grown for the first time in Lan
caster County this year.
It’s a cross between wheat
and rye. Standing in the field,
it’s the height of wheat, with
longer, higher yielding heads
which have beards. The straw
has thicker stems than wheat,
making a courser straw.
The grain itself looks very
much like wheat, except some
what larger and shriveled in ap
pearance.
But though it looks and
grows like wheat, triticale is
not wheat. And the difference
is exciting to the Lancaster
County farmer who grew four
acres of it this year.
He is Robert W. Armstrong,
Drumore RDI. Armstrong com
pleted harvest of his first crop
of triticale about 10 days ago
and he’s very enthused about
the results.
Despite a partial freeze-out,
Armstrong reports an average
yield of 70 bushels per acre on
four acres. He figures that’s
about a 25 bushel per acre in
crease over the 45 bushel he
■would expect to get from wheat,
wheat.
On two of the four acres, the
triticale yield was about 85
bushels, but the two acres on
the north side of the hill were
partially frozen and the yield
there was only about 55 bushels.
While Armstrong is pleased
with his 70 bushel yield, he’s
not satisfied. He’s now trying to
obtain seed for a new variety of
triticale which he believes
Could boost his yield to IQQ
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bushels per acre next year.
Armstrong notes that high
straw prices nearly competi
tive with hay in recent months
—helps make the grain crop
competitive with alternative
crops. Armstrong thinks de
clining wheat production all
over the U.S. could keep straw
prices high even though farm
ers are turning to alternative
bedding sources.
Feed Value High
The yield on triticale is good,
but what about the feed value?
Armstrong is also enthusias
tic here. He quotes a study com
paring protein content of triti
cale, milo and shelled corn as
follows:
Crude protein triticale,
17.34 per cent; milo, 10.42 per
cent, and shelled corn, 9.28 per
cent; digestible protein triti
cale, 14.58 per cent; milo, 8.12
per cent, and shelled corn, 7.15
per cent.
His figures also show triticale
has high TDN content as fol
lows: corn, 82.30 per cent; triti
cale, 80.17 per cent, and milo,
77.82 per cent.
Armstrong is particularly en
thused about the high protein
content of triticale. He will
have his own triticale tested by
Brookside Research Labora
tories, Inc. New Knoxville,
Ohio, for feed value.
He plans to feed triticale to
his swine in place of wheat
which would normally go into
the ration. He thinks the big
gest benefit of feeding triticale
will be in lowering cost of pro
duction.
The Armstrong farm is lo
cated just over the hill from the
hew Muddy Run Dam near the
Susquehanna River.
Armstrong’s swine operation
consists of about 100 head of
sows and gilts. He sells around
600 fattened animals and about
400 feeder pigs per year.
With his fattening animals,
VAEJ PALE
Robert W. Armstrong, Drumore RDI
swine producer, displays some of the triti
cale, a new grain crop, he grew bn his
he plans to start feeding triti
cale at about the 60 pound size.
He used liquid waste from his
hog operation as fertilizer for
the triticale. Applied at the rate
of about 2,000 gallons plowed
under per acre and another 500
gallons on top the ground, the
recommendation of Brookside
Lab, he figures the application
was about equal to a 125-50-50
application of fertilizer.
Armstrong notes that Triti
cale was developed by Jenldns
Foundation for Research, -Sa
linas, California, for use in
Drumore Center
R. D. 1,
Quarryrille, Pa.
Phone 548-2116
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 24,1971
winning the race against world
famine. The research began in
1953. The effect now is to im
prove triticale varieties already
developed and it’s one of the
new, improved varieties that
Armstrong is hoping to get for
next year.
He obtainted this year’s seed
through John Eshleman, Hag
erstown, Md., who is also grow
ing some and plans to feed it to
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farm this summer. Armstrong is interest
ed in the new crop for both its high yield
and high feed value.
his dairy cows. .Recently I»ter
national Commodities Corp., a
beef ranch operation, acquired
rights to the seed.
With triticale being nearly
equal to corn on energy and
considerably higher in protein,
and with the prospect for 100
bushel per acre yields on his re
latively hilly ground, Arm
strong is enthusiastic about the
new crop’s prospects.
19