Abstract

Chicory (Cichorum intybus) is a deep-rooted grazeable forage used to overcome production and nutritive value shortfalls of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens) swards during summer drought periods in New Zealand (Waugh et al. 1998; Chapman et al. 2012). However, there is little and contrasting data on the proportion of chicory to be used in mixed swards to influence livestock production. For example, Golding et al. (2011) showed that feeding chicory in a mixed sward at 18–40% of total dry matter, increased lamb post-weaning liveweight gain (LWG) compared with a traditional ryegrass sward. On the other hand, Cheng et al. (2017) reported similar daily LWG for heifers offered a mixed sward of 50% chicory and 50% ryegrass-white clover or 100% perennial ryegrass-white clover. These contrasting results justify more research on the chicory proportion in mixed swards and its effect on animal performance...

O, Al-marashdeh, L Cheng, P Gregorini, and GR Edwards

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 77, Rotorua, 82-84, 2017