Chicory is a nutritious summer herb with potential to provide good grazing for dairy herds in southern Australia.
Chicory has significant growth potential in late spring and summer, which can complement the seasonal production pattern of perennial ryegrass.
The DM percentage of chicory ranges from 10-15% so yields can vary by up to 50% if DM is over or under estimated.
1. Make a 0.25m2 quadrant by bending wire into a square 0.5m x 0.5m.
2. Take cuttings from four randomly chosen sites, cut to 5cm height.
3. Bulk up four samples and weigh.
4. Multiply by 10,000 to get fresh weight (kg/ha).
5. Take 200g sample of fresh chicory.
6. Dry in microwave or oven and re-weigh or send sample away for DM analysis.
7. Calculate DM% (dry weight/fresh weight).
8. Calculate DM/ha (fresh weight x DM%)
Chicory (PDF, 1.7MB)
This sheet includes practical aspects of chicory management and summarises 3030 findings on potential production, seasonality, grazing management, agronomic requirements and potential system fit.
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is a deep rooted summer-active, short-term (2-4 years) perennial herb with good nutritive characteristics. There has been renewed interest in chicory's potential to provide high-quality summer forage for grazing on southern Australian dairy farms.