Bunker Triticale
Makes its Debut in 2008

Livestock producers who like triticale, but do not like the awns will be especially happy with the new variety available from Fabian Seed Farms. Bunker, as the name implies, is a variety that excels in silage or green feed situations. It has reduced awn expression, which means even though it is not technically awnless, the beards are significantly shorter, as you can see in the picture. The straw strength is rated excellent, making it an ideal choice on irrigation. Performance ratings for Alberta are somewhat misleading, as they have only one years test data, but Saskatchewan has tested Bunker for three years. Their research shows a yield improvement over Pronghorn from 2% to 13%. With the price of wheat rising to where it currently is, ethanol producers are taking a hard look at using triticale for ethanol production to remain competitive. Bunker can also be seeded on land that is prone to disease due to barley on barley continuous cropping, giving silage producers another option. A few feedlots are actually phasing out Barley for silage as they are finding the yields for triticale to be the same or higher than barley, without the hassle from the disease or hot weather. Call us if you have any questions about Bunker, to see if it's right for your operation.