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Pitic 62 wheat rates number one with Alta. rancher

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Published: March 19, 1998

HIGH RIVER, Alta. – An old wheat variety has found a niche in the swath grazing program of one Alberta rancher.

Doug Wray of Irricana has used Pitic 62 for swath grazing for the last four years. His family grew it as a utility wheat years ago and discovered it made excellent greenfeed.

A semi-dwarf variety deregistered in 1990, Pitic 62 has a softer stem and a longer growing season than other varieties. Wray’s cattle eat every last piece and seem to prefer it over oats or barley.

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“It’s a great tool for us to graze cattle over winter. I’ve got a shot this winter at never having to feed a bale,” said Wray, who talked about his success at the recent Foothills Forage Association meeting in High River.

Pitic 62 is a Mexican variety registered in 1969 as a feed, primarily because it is high yielding with a lower protein count. It has a higher leaf ratio than barley.

In 1972 a new series of grades were set up for Canadian feed wheat. Canada Utility included Pitic 62 and Glenlee, developed at the University of Manitoba.

Lower in protein

Glenlee had good milling qualities and gradually became more popular. Pitic 62 has a protein content of about nine percent and is not suitable for baking. It can only be sold as feed because it is an unregistered variety, said Keith Tipples, director of the grain research lab for the Canadian Grain Commission.

Last year Wray grew about 100 acres of Pitic in three different fields for winter grazing. He moves the cattle into different sections of the field each day, blocking off unused sections with electric wires.

He puts about 130 head on a half acre per day and supplements the cattle with three pounds of barley for extra energy.

“It’s an economical way to feed cattle. I can move the electric wire as fast as I can haul bales out,” Wray said.

This feeding program reduces his winter feed bill because it’s cheaper than making bales. Further, he isn’t using his tractor as much so he saves on fuel and labor. Wray thinks the swaths should last until the end of April.

The only limiting factor is that swaths must be near a water source and shelter. Snow doesn’t seem to hurt the feed but rain can lead to mould and the cattle reject it.

This is the first year he has fed this wheat all winter. Conditions have been favorable and cattle don’t have to dig down too far to find the swaths. On the downside, Pitic 62 has a rough awn on its head that can hurt an animal’s mouth.

One cow out of 150 developed sores, said Wray, but it hasn’t lost any weight.

“It isn’t anything that we have worried about,” said Wray.

He used to bale the Pitic wheat and put small square bales in a feed bunk, but found the calves left a lot of chaff and awns behind. However, the cows eat it all.

Longer growing season

Pitic has a growing season of about 110 days.

“If you’ve been used to seeding oats and barley, seed a week earlier so it matures the same time as barley,” he said.

The wheat is cut just before freeze up, when the grain is in the dough stage.

His main problem with Pitic 62 is getting seed. Wray has about 3,000 bushels available but worries he could run short.

“The only seed I know of is in my bin.”

Wray wants to find other farmers who would be willing to grow the wheat for seed, since registered growers don’t carry it.

About the author

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth has covered many livestock shows and conferences across the continent since 1988. Duckworth had graduated from Lethbridge College’s journalism program in 1974, later earning a degree in communications from the University of Calgary. Duckworth won many awards from the Canadian Farm Writers Association, American Agricultural Editors Association, the North American Agricultural Journalists and the International Agriculture Journalists Association.

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