b'Small grain with big nutritional punch nodes and plants that have higher number of tillers with smaller While many dairy producers still only grow a single corn silagestem diameter are many different ways of evaluating plant crop for forage, Padilla explains that we push producers to usearchitecture that can lend itself toward better forage quality, a double cropping system which entails planting triticale in thehe explains. Its more of a game of reducing lignin as much as fall, harvesting in the spring for silage, and then planting corn forpossible, but on the other hand, I do perform lab tests to evalu-silage or grain right after the triticale has been harvested. Theate forage quality and I have begun developing genetic pools for incorporation of the double cropping system has many benefits,forage quality and using those parental lines within those pools including manure management, soil health and water manage- to increase forage quality.ment. In addition, it can help a producer increase their annualLike all others who know forage, Padilla stresses that forage forage yield total by 20-35%. The adoption rate of triticale forquality is difficult to improve through breeding and that in forage is already high for the U.S. beef industry, but there isthe end, the majority of the quality is in the hands of farmers. room for growth.Fertility effects protein, harvest stage effects lignin, the time of Padilla says that, while TriCal Superior Forage, which developsday the field is harvested effects sugar content, he says. For its the triticale sold by Legacy AgriPartners, has significantly increasedpart, TriCal has conducted harvest stage studies and concludes the forage feed quality of triticale from what it was three decadesthat the best stage for highest-quality forage without the loss ago, leaps in improvement have come much slower in small grainsof tonnage is at flag leaf emergence. If harvested at this point, compared to other types of crops. He adds that at this time, weprotein content will be 15% to 17% and starch level will be high. havent found a specific trait that helps with overall digestibility inPadillas best advice to farmers for growing triticale to maxi-triticale such as the BMR trait used in corn and sorghum.mize its nutritional value? Treat it like a high-value forage crop In describing his breeding program at TriCal, Padilla calls itand not like a cover crop. As a breeder, I can develop a triticale more of an architectural approach with a focus on attainingcultivar to have the highest forage quality on the market, he higher leaf-to-stem ratios. Selecting plants with shorter inter- says, but bad farm practices can collapse all the potential. SWOCTOBER 2023SEEDWORLD.COM /33'