I began seeding winter triticale about 10 years ago. It has proven to be a very diverse crop. I've sold it through the seed business and I've used it on my own farm. It makes a great instant pasture when you're looking for emergency pasture in a dry year. The straw is highly palatable to cows and the screenings can be them to them as well. The clean seed is sold locally or through a broker in Wisconsin where it's used for dairy grazing.
I've never used winter triticale for silage although that's an option. With 2001 being extremely dry in our area, winter triticale looked good all year due to the moisture from the snow. It was very tempting to bale it or silage it but I needed the seed.
Winter triticale is adapted to all my soil types. We have some land that is quite sandy and it does well on it. It likes the heavier land, too. And it competes well against winter annuals and wild oats.
Winter triticale is usually seeded on old forage stands (mostly alfalfa) that have been sprayed out with Roundup. I also have one field where winter triticale has been seeded 3 years in a row.
I like to seed winter triticale with oats and barley. These are then harvested for silage in late July. The winter triticale has excellent re-growth once the other crops have been removed. It is left to grow throughout the fall. In the spring, we broadcast about 80 lbs/ac actual N in the form of 34-0-0. Depending on the year, I can either take it for hay or combine it in early August.
I seed it at 2 bu/ac. For years I've had it custom seeded. This has enabled me to have the crop direct seeded with a nice new Morris air drill.
Some years we straight cut the triticale but this past year, we swathed it to ensure a higher quality straw. It was cut August 4 & 6.
We were fortunate that we had a heavy snow cover for early spring moisture as we received only about 2 inches of rain the entire growing season. Still, the triticale yielded 30 bu/ac. In years of higher rainfall, it has yielded as high as 50 bu/ac.
On the field where winter triticale will be growing back-to-back, I bale the straw, apply 0.5 l/ac Roundup and then direct seed it back into winter triticale by September 10. On one such field, where I have my third winter triticale crop seeded, I waited until after freeze-up, when the triticale was into its third leaf, and then broadcast 10 lbs/ac of alfalfa on to it. I'll use a roller in the spring to level and press the alfalfa into the ground. I've done this before and it works really well. The alfalfa will germinate and enjoy the shade provided by the winter triticale. Once the triticale is removed, the alfalfa will take off and go in to the winter in good condition.
I find winter triticale to be very winter hardy. One winter, we received very little snow and while it turned out to be a pretty mild winter, it had excellent survivability. In the winter of 2000 - 01, we had lots of snow and again, it came through very well.
I prefer winter triticale over winter wheat because it also gives me the option of grazing or haying it for 2 or 3 years, which I can't do with the other winter cereals.
I don't have a problem with winter triticale volunteers because the cows will eat them off anyway. However, if I had broadleafs other than alfalfa in the rotation, I might have difficulty controlling the plants that germinate in the fall. Any that germinate in the spring won't set seed, they will just tiller.
In closing, I'd like to say that direct seeding and winter triticale have been good for our farm. Once over the land for seed and fertilizer has been god for the soil and the winter triticale has provided us with options as a livestock feed and a cash crop.