United Kingdom
September 3, 2013

In the fight to tackle black grass and stagnating Wheat yields, large arable farmers are signing up to include Triticale varieties Tribeca and Kereon in their rotations for this autumn. “With existing rotational and agronomy choices struggling to maintain output levels, many growers are now adopting a more strategic approach to improving their cereal performance” said Bob Miles, Elsoms Agricultural Director. “Triticale allows growers a longer autumn window in which to mount a full scale attack on black grass, whilst recent HGCA research has shown that Triticale can provide substantially improved returns over late drilled or 2nd/3rd wheats” he added.

Tribeca triticale

We have seen a real upsurge in interest in our varieties Kereon and Tribeca following Cereals 2013 when the HGCA published headline data from their recent and on-going work into the significant advantages available to growers from Triticale,” commented Elsoms Sales Manager, Adrian Hayler. “Triticale has also been promoted as key element in new agronomy packages targeted at fighting black grass. These use aggressive cultivation package linked to a robust herbicide programme underpinned by Triticale’s strong performance and highly competitive nature,” Adrian concluded.

In “Hand Out 13”, published this summer, the HGCA’s gross margin calculations indicated a potential advantage of £106/ha for Triticale. The report went onto state that, “triticale can regularly out-yield wheat (even in certain high yielding situations) and is likely to require reduced inputs, such as nitrogen fertilisers and plant protection products. Triticale varieties have changed radically in recent years and present considerable potential in the UK – in both the animal feed and bioethanol markets”

With more Triticale now being grown on good arable land for maximum output, variety choice has become an important issue. “Previously farmers and merchants have been happy to use “generic” triticale varieties from central Europe” commented Bob Miles. “Over the last two years this has led to an increasing dissatisfaction with both disease resistance and grain quality. Our varieties, Tribeca and Kereon, have been bred in Northern France and selected and trialed in Lincolnshire to ensure their value to UK growers. Tribeca was introduced in 2009 and has established a reputation for good disease resistance, high yield and an ability to deliver good results across the country. Kereon is a very exciting addition to our portfolio delivering specific weights in the range 74-75kgs, significantly improving the marketability of the crop” he added.