Turning to Choice chicory to power through summer

When it comes to making the most of summer feed, farmers Sanjay Singh and Aaron Fisher have turned to a crop that’s earned its place on their farms – Choice chicory.

Waikato-based Sanjay Singh discovered the benefits of Choice chicory while working on a farm near Te Awamutu during the 2008 drought. While other pasture growth dropped away, chicory proved to be a high-quality lactation feed.  

“It proved itself then, and it’s worked well ever since,” says Sanjay, who now sharemilks 240 cows on 85 hectares near Otorohanga and plants 12ha of Choice each spring. The key for Sanjay is getting the timing right.  

“We aim to plant in the first week of October when moisture is still there. That way we’re grazing by late November or early December, just as grass quality starts to drop.”  He runs a 24-day round and feeds around 4kg dry matter per cow per day (DM/cow/day), taking pressure off pastures while lifting summer milk production.  

“We always see a lift in the vat when they hit the chicory. It’s consistent, it’s easy to manage, and it works, says Sanjay Singh.” 

Down in coastal Taranaki, Aaron Fisher is seeing similar benefits. Running a 62ha System 1 farm with 152 cows, his focus is on high performance from all home-grown feed.

Chicory has been the best summer cropping option we’ve used in the past 25 years. It helps us shift spring surplus forward and replace it with high-quality in-situ grazing right through summer,” he says. 

Aaron now uses Halter to fine-tune the grazing, ensuring daily breaks and improved plant recovery. Like Sanjay, he offers 4-5kg DM/cow/day and stretches the summer grazing round to protect ryegrass pastures under heat and moisture stress.  

“The first time we put cows onto chicory, we saw a 1,000 litre lift in milk in just one week,” Aaron says.  

Both farmers agree that quality and consistency are key. 

“It’s easier to fill the gap through spring when taking the area out for chicory while you’ve got grass, than trying to fill the gap through summer when you don’t have grass or chicory,” says Sanjay.  

Aaron adds, “It’s taught us how much more cows can eat if the quality is there, and it’s helped improve our tail-end mating by preferentially feeding late calvers.” 

They also highlight how Choice has complemented their wider systems. For Sanjay, the crop contributes to pasture renewal, rotating through paddocks for four to five years and working well as part of his regrassing programme.  

“You can turn a bad paddock into a great one using this system.”

For Aaron, who has recently completed a full regrassing programme, chicory has become the ideal break crop between new perennial rotations, with plans to shift toward a Mohaka tetraploid hybrid ryegrass system. 

Both farmers credit their success to good agronomy and strong relationships. Sanjay values the support from his local Farm Source Technical Agricultural Specialist Jarno Sammet, especially at the establishment.  

“Getting the drilling right, using slug bait – it all adds up. Jarno’s been a big part of our success.”  

For Aaron, Farm Source’s Shaun Morresey and Agricom’s Dylan Moratti have helped ensure the right decisions are made at the right times. “Chicory’s is a clear choice for us now. If we weren’t using it, we’d be cutting baleage and feeding it back, doubling the workload with a lower-quality and more expensive feed option,” he says.  

For both farms, Choice chicory is more than a crop; it’s a proven tool for managing summer feed, improving cow performance, and keeping systems simple. To find out how Choice chicory could work for your farm, contact your local Farm Source TSR.

Article supplied by Agricom