John Versteden is impressed with the potential of chicory.CHICORY, an old-time pasture species, is winning new fans among Gippsland’s dairy farmers.
Studies have shown it is a highly nutritious feed for sheep, beef and dairy production with very good growth rates from spring to autumn.
Longwarry dairy farmer John Versteden is in his second year of growing chicory and is very impressed with its performance so far.
“I put it into several paddocks where ryegrass pasture had been devastated by red-headed cockchafers for two years in a row,” he said.
“Initially I planted chicory because it could withstand cockchafers, but now I see it as a high-quality feed that yields well.
“It can be grazed directly, reducing the need to harvest and feed-out silage in summer and autumn.”
Greg O’Brien from the Department of Primary Industries Ellinbank said that Project 3030 was coming to a similar conclusion about chicory, albeit from a different direction.
“The DPI’s 3030 researchers were able to boost yields through double-cropping annuals,” he said.
“However, it was difficult to turn this extra production into profit due to costs and wastage associated with the need to harvest and feed much of the extra feed as silage.
“A shift to direct-grazed perennial species on part of the farm could be a better option.”
The wet conditions have been the only hiccup in John’s chicory experience.
“I used to think chicory was bomb-proof in the dry conditions we were experiencing but it doesn’t like to be severely water-logged.
“The flower stalk is hollow at the base when it is maturing and if it is cut or grazed at this time, the hollow stem can fill with water which encourages fungus that can destroy the tap root.
“A tip is to graze it when it is reasonably leafy or the stem is quite young (around 20 days) and don’t graze or top mature seedheads during or before rain.”
Pugging appears to increase the risk of root disease so John has limited the proportion of the farm on which he would grow chicory to no more than 20 per cent
“This gives him the flexibility to avoid grazing chicory when conditions don’t suit, without compromising the remaining ryegrass pastures on his farm,” Greg said.
“Another tip for success is to fertilise regularly with nitrogen; use a similar approach to fertilising ryegrass.”
“Chicory also appears to be sensitive to salt. It won’t grow on saline soil and saline dairy effluent will kill it.
“Mature plants don’t appear to have any major pest problems, although slugs and red-legged earth mites can be a problem during establishment.
“Chicory is a short-term perennial lasting two to four years, depending on the cultivar so to have the stand last longer, let it flower and seed every second or third year.”
