TRICAL® Triticale Varieties for the Central Plains

In the Central Plains, TRICAL® forage varieties are sold in forage blends that are each tailored to specific needs and growing conditions. These blends that have “TRICAL® INSIDE” are produced and sold by a select group of seed suppliers, seed companies that are owned and operated in the Central Plains. The TRICAL® varieties described in the table below are key ingredients in many of the leading forage blends used in the Central Plains for silage, grazing, or hay.

Why and how forage blends are produced?

Beware of Unidentified or Untested Triticale. Worldwide there are hundreds of triticale varieties. They differ widely in important traits such as winter hardiness, growth habit, beardless heads, maturity, and yield. Some varieties are for grazing, some for silage, others for grain. Major problems and losses can occur when a variety is sold for the wrong use or brought into an area for which it is not adapted. In the Southern Plains, triticale’s reputation has suffered because of the sale of triticale varieties developed for the Southeastern U.S. or for spring-planting in Canada or the Dakotas, which have been killed by cold or headed out prematurely. Lack of knowledge about the identity or characteristics of a triticale variety can lead to crop failure and costly losses. Choosing the right variety is the key to successful, profitable use of triticale.

The breeding, selection, and testing of these varieties for the Central Plains have taken many years and millions of dollars. TRICAL® varieties are protected under the U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act. Without authorization from the breeder, seed of a protected variety cannot be multiplied or sold individually or as part of a blend, by name or “variety not stated – VNS”. Violators risk prosecution and substantial penalties, and deprive plant breeders of revenue needed to develop new, improved varieties.

Variety Name	Variety Highlights
TRICAL® 815 and TRICAL® 336	For fall planting. High forage yield and quality. Earlier maturity than TRICAL® 102, which facilitates double crop with corn silage.
TRICAL® 2700	For spring planting for silage – alone, with peas, and as a nurse crop for alfalfa. Late summer or early fall planted in grazing blends or alone where winters are not too severe. Versatile and widely adapted. Better cold tolerance and feed quality than most other spring cereals.
TRICAL® Merlin	Awnless spring forage triticale, ideal for hay as well as silage. Awnless trait gives added versatility. Used alone and in blends with forage peas and other forages.
TRICAL® 102	For fall planting. Very high forage yield. Very hardy and widely adapted. Awnleted (short awns).

TRICAL® Brand triticale varieties are protected under the U.S. Plant Variety protection (PVP) Act and/or the U.S. Patent Act. Unauthorized seed multiplication and sale are prohibited. Violators deprive plant breeders of revenue needed to support the development of new, improved varieties, and risk prosecution and substantial penalties. RSI grants to the seed buyer of patented varieties a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the purchased seed for the sole purpose of producing grain and/or forage for processing or feeding.