Productivity and quality of grazed chicory-orchardgrass swards

Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a highly productive forage that seems well suited for inclusion in intensively managed pasture in the Appalachian Region. The cultivar Grasslands Puna was used successfully in grazed pure stand; however, it most likely will be grown in association with grasses and legumes in botanically complex sward. While remarkable productivity and liveweight gains are possible with chicory, little is known about seasonal distribution of nutrients and energy in the plant under rotationally stocked conditions. A grazing experiment was conducted to evaluate lamb productivity and nutritive composition of a chicory-orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) mixture compared 'to an orchardgrass dominant sward. Dry matter productivity of orchardgrass and chicory-orchardgrass swards were comparable at the outset of the grazing interval with initial pre-graze yields of about 2000 1b/acre. Regrowth yields were 55% of initial herbage mass for the chicory-orchardgrass mix, while orchardgrass was about 75%. The proportion of dead tissue increased in orchardgrass canopies and may reflect changes in herbage mass occurring in response to weather conditions or source-sink allocation. chicory preferentially after they became accustomed to the forage. Orchardgrass and chicory-orchardgrass paddocks supported about 1.2 animal units over a 33-d interval in mid summer when growth of other forage species was severely restricted by hot, dry weather conditions.