Chicory growing in favour as a great feed

With drought affecting many areas again this year, farmers need to look at their systems and make sure they have the right stocking rate and system, and suitable feed to survive an extended dry period.

Over the years many different feeds have been introduced to agriculture, all purporting to help in balancing the feed demand equation at different times of year.

Chicory was one of these species that was popular many years ago, but interest waned as a individual crop, and much of its use was in a pasture mix.

It appears its finding favour again, this time with more expertise on how it should be managed. Maybe NZ farmers need to adjust their management away from a " white clover and ryegrass" mentality and adapt management systems to these different species.

Have you had success with alternative species to help cope with the dry?

Waikato farmers are taking a shine to chicory as a supplementary feed crop, with seed sales reaching new levels this spring. Ballance Agri-Nutrients and merchant partner RD1 are experiencing unprecedented interest in the crop, and are working on nutrient programmes best suited for the high protein crop. Hailed as a crop for three seasons, requiring a break from grazing through the winter only, chicory can be grazed for up to six years, but paddocks are typically returned to pasture after two years.
 

Warwick Catto, Head of Research and Environment at Ballance Agri-Nutrients, says ‘There appears to be a move away from turnips this season,’ says Mr Catto. ‘Due to its performance in recent dry summers, farmers are seeing chicory as a better solution to feed through dry periods, which are not consistent in timing each year. ‘Chicory has a much deeper tap root system, enabling it to forage for water more effectively than turnips under drier soil conditions. This allows a supply of high-quality feed to be carried right though summer. In the summer droughts that we have seen in the past few years, chicory paddocks have stood out among the browned-off pastures due their persistent greenness.’

Also of note was chicory's ability to sequester high levels of trace elements, such as copper, which can be a valuable asset with regard to stock nutrition. Additionally, there is a growing recognition that chicory has a high level of metabolisable energy (ME), typically around 13
MJ/kg DM. ‘The danger is that farmers don’t feed chicory enough to get the yields talked about. Chicory’s got the potential to be very high yielding – up to 15 tonne DM/ha would be achievable on many farms, and with the right conditions, up to 20 tonne DM/ha is not out of the question.
 

‘To keep it growing, apply nitrogen regularly after grazing. Nitrogen is the key nutrient most likely to be yield limiting for chicory crops. If a crop yields 15 tonne DM/ha, that means 400-600 kg N/ha will be required by the crop from the soil and fertiliser inputs.