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Chicory

816 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Gravytrain 
#1 ·
I know there are several plants with this name and was bored and looking up the kind we have growing around here. I didn't know another type of chicory was used as livestock fodder and could help somewhat with internal parasites because of the tannins. Has any more experience with this crop/plant?
 
#3 ·
This is what our version looks like, all over my lawn at the moment (some of the goats do like to eat it though). I couldn't see how that would make a good forage crop since it's mostly stem but I saw pictures that look a lot like dandelion/radicchio, much more leafy~

Flower Plant Botany Azure Petal
 
#4 ·
It gets stemmy when it is in the reproductive (blooming) phase. Before that it has a lot of leaves at the base.

When the plants are over 2 feet tall and you mow over them, the mower will often cut everything but the stem. Then the stem stands up straight and tall which prompts a lot of questions about why you mowed around those sticks.
 
#5 ·
Chicory is becoming an increasingly popular forage crop in NZ. I haven't had it personally because we can't afford to plant it but watched with interest, a crop being fed on the main road to town. Yearling bulls were put on it when the chicory was about 6" tall then moved on to the next paddock. The first paddock was left for about a month to come away again and the bulls went into it again. And so it went on for around a year, maybe a bit more, with a break over the winter months. The plants were never allowed to mature - the grazing down promoted young growth. By the time those bulls disappeared off my driving radar they were in excellent condition.

If I had the money to cultivate, purchase and plant the seed, I think it would be a crop well worth investigating. There is quite a lot of information on it if you Google it and it can also be planted along with other grasses.

Cheers,
Ronnie
 
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