Ensuring high-quality, reliable homegrown
feed throughout summer and
autumn is a goal Reporoa farmer
Mathew Martelli is achieving with
Choice chicory. The feed quality of
Choice also means he sees the
results in the vat, with a significant
increase in milksolids production
compared with an all-grass diet.
Mathew farms 325 cows on a 152ha
(141ha effective) dairy farm. Choice
chicory, a deep tap-rooted long-lived
herb, works well in drought proofing the
amount and quality of his feed supply in
the variable summer rainfall
environment. "Our system is low input
so chicory fits well during the dry
summer months when pasture quality
can be low.- Mathew says. Mathew has
been sowing Choice chicory on farm for
several years and it is now about 10
percent of his platform. This season's
extremely wet autumn has knocked
performance but Mathew has still
produced a yield of 12-13 tonnes and
had a 12.5 percent milksolid increase
when the cows were introduced from
ryegrass (compared with a 16 percent
increase the previous year). His 13ha of
Choice have allowed a 28-day grazing
round, with the cows grazing half a
hectare a day. Choice provides high
protein and high ME feed and Mathew
says his heifers did really well on the
crop because they were able to use it
so well. "The feed is there in front of
them and easily accessible. I find it
easier to manage versus turnips."
Choice chicory has been thoroughly
proven on farms and in research to
substantially improve production