Description

Choice Chicory is a perennial herb with a deep tap root, high forage quality and high warm-season pasture growth. Choice chicory has been proven on farms and in trials to improve production both per animal and per hectare in sheep, beef and dairy systems.

Compared to the original Puna, Choice has a uniform full strap leaf and is fully green in colour. Choice was bred from true perennial chicory parents under grazing evaluation and selected for high drymatter production, improved cool season growth and recovery from grazing. Choice has been bred with very good leaf disease tolerance.

The deep (1.5-2 metres) tap-rooted nature of Choice chicory can result in consistent growth rates and forage quality, even during hot or dry periods. Choice chicory is relatively inexpensive to establish compared with ryegrass/clover pastures. Choice chicory can be added to new grass pasture mixes (e.g. 2 kg/ha) to boost animal performance and feed production.

There are two main ways that Choice chicory is used:

1. Mixed with a grass/clover pasture – this is the most common use of chicory because it requires very little change to pasture establishment and management practices. It is an easy way to increase animal production from a pasture. Seed is mixed at a rate of 1 to 3 kg/ha, depending on the content required.

2. As a special purpose crop – this requires different establishment and management practices to grass pastures. It is however, a more effective way of increasing animal performance because it provides a greater amount of high quality feed over summer. Seed is sown at 6 to 8 kg/ha often with the addition of red and white clover.