WinField United and Northern Star Integrated Services expand collaboration to include triticale seed

WinField United and Northern Star Integrated Services LLC have announced an expanded forage and cover crop seed development and production collaboration. The collaboration builds on the existing relationship between WinField United and Northern Star and will begin with infusing triticale seed genetics into the CROPLAN and Armor seed brands.

"The expanded collaboration with Northern Star is an exciting development for WinField United," said Gary Nowaczyk, director of CROPLAN alfalfa, forages, sunflower, canola and wheat at WinField United. "We're eager to offer the retail system and its growers access to high-quality triticale seed and proud to be able to provide new products that can help support responsible agriculture practices."

Triticale is a hardy crop with prolific growth and adaptability to various environmental conditions. Triticale doubles as a cover crop that supports the sequestration of soil carbon, and its high nitrogen-acquisition capabilities make it an ideal crop to grow after other crops have left soil nitrogen deficient. This aligns with WinField United's ongoing work alongside Truterra's sustainability business to help local retailers and growers enter the sustainability space.

"Northern Star is solely focused on delivering top-performing genetics for small grains and forages," said Brent Fitzmorris, manager, Northern Star. "The combination of our expertise in varietal development and WinField United's network and resources will allow us to bring triticale varieties to more growers than ever before."

WinField United's entrance into the triticale market will be a multiyear process. After using research plots to identify an optimal seed variety, work will begin with local retail owners to establish a network of preferred triticale seed production growers to become WinField United Associates for the production of commercial seed. As a part of WinField United's Associate Program, WinField United Associates will have access to elite genetics, tools and resources.