We are super excited to announce the release of our very own proprietary forage triticale! Motley triticale is a brand new beardless facultative (plant spring or fall) triticale with a number of great attributes to recommend it. Motley has been in trials since 2018 with trial locations in Cedar City UT, Cascade IA, Imperial NE, Fort Collins CO, Idaho Falls ID, Othello WA and Bozeman MT. Trial data is very impressive, and Motley has a very promising future.
There were challenges we wanted to address with the release of Motley. We didn’t want to simply release “another variety” without distinct characteristics to recommend it. We wanted it to be better than what was available and to solve issues manifest in other varieties. Motley Triticale addresses the following:
Plant height and lodging:
One way to make a forage crop produce higher per-acre yields is to breed the plant to grow taller. But this comes with consequences; the taller a plant the more susceptible it is to lodging (or tipping over). When a plant lodges the stem kinks and cuts off water and nutrients. Imagine bending a drinking straw until it kinks, then try to suck through it. The result is stunted growth, diminished forage yields and poor seed production. Additionally, lodging creates heavy “mats” of material on the ground that can mold, delay dry-down and are notoriously difficult to swath or combine.
Motley addresses the challenges of excessive height and lodging by shifting growth emphasis from stems to the leaves. In our trials, Motley was on average 6″ shorter than comparable top-shelf varieties, but expresses large, broad, deep-green leaves. Inspite of it’s shorter height, it yielded higher tonnage than the other varieties in the trial. In a nutshell, Motley has a lower risk of lodging and improved forage capabilities.
Photo from left to right: Surge, FX 1001, Gunner, Motley
Large, Abundant Leaves:
Taller plants means more tons, but that doesn’t necessarily mean better forage. The primary source of forage and nutrition is in the leaf. If you want better forage, make better leaves and more of them. Motley has deep green, broad leaves, and on average more leaves per stem than other varieties. And because Motley demonstrates high tillering you get more stems with more leaves!
Photo: Motleys tonnage potential comes from abundant, heavy, deep green, leaves.
Heavy Tillering:
Tillers are new grass shoots that rise from the crown. They are made up of successive segments with growing points that, in small grains, turn into a stem. We compared several varieties in our trials and they averaged 6-7 tillers per plant. Motley averaged 9 tillers, and we found plants with as many as FIFTEEN tillers. More tillers mean more stems and mores stems means more leaves.
Photo: This randomly selected plant has 11 tillers!
Beardless:
Beards can cause serious respirator and mouth issues in livestock. Motley is completely beardless and can be cut, bailed and fed without any concerns about beards.
Motley brand triticale is a join effort between Great Basin Seed/Haystack Mountain and TriCal / Northern Agri Brands
