cereal yields as silage

[Ron]

Anybody know what a decent crop of silage yields in central alberta? barley, triticale. Has anybody seen Bobcat triticale (supposed to have no awns so you can take it off as greenfeed?). Trying to find something that pencils out better than feed barley. Combining 80 bushels at $2.00 is a lot of work to break even. Can you skip the wild oat herbicide with silage. Answers to questions I have forgotten to ask will be appreciated. Thanks

[emiled]

Tonnage will vary substantially by area (primarily due to moisture differences) but for the Edmonton area, I consider 10-12 tonnes a v.good barley silage crop - triticale supposedly can top these yields but we haven't had a lot grown here to date -- Triticale is often used for reasons other than tonnage -- It allows growers to break up barley on barley silage rotations (less disease), it stands better under heavily manured or high fertility situations, and can withstand drought better than barley (esp as it nears the proper cutting stage). In my mind, there are some lingering concerns about the palatability of triticale silage -- Quality is dependant on proper timing of cutting and the palatability is somewhat dependant on % of diet and what type of livestock are targetted. In the drier areas, 6-8 tonnes is considered reasonable for silage tonnage. Hope this provides some initial points for discussion