Endure Chicory
PERSISTENCE EVEN IN WET SOILS
Endure is the newest chicory variety available from E-Forage Seed. Bred to withstand wetter soils, Endure excels where other chicory varieties fail. Endure is a very high yielding variety that produces tons of high-quality forage. Drought tolerant with superb summer production Endure can help your grazing needs all summer long. Endure provides a high protein diet for livestock and wildlife. Chicory is also shown to control internal parasites in sheep.
Description
- Excellent forage quality
- High yielding variety
- Increased summer performance
- Drought tolerant
- Improved persistence in wet soils
- Perfect for wildlife
Establishment
Chicory prefers well to moderately drained soil of medium to high fertility. Flooding, particularly during the summer months, can injure chicory stands so low lying ground should be avoided.
Chicory establishes best on a moist firm seedbed. The seedbed should be cultipacked before and after broadcast seeding to ensure good seed-to-soil contact and correct planting depth. If using a drill, set the planting depth to no more than 1/4 inch.
If no-till seeding clear the area of all standing forage by close grazing, haymaking, or clipping close with a bush-hog. Then spray glyphosate (41% a.i. at 2.5 pts/acre plus surfactant), to kill the existing stand of forage. After applying the glyphosate, wait seven days before planting to ensure no herbicide residue remains.
Lime, Phosphorus and Potassium should be applied according to soil test recommendations with alfalfa as the specified crop. Soil pH should be at least 5.5. Nitrogen fertilizer should be applied at planting at a rate of 35 pounds per acre to stimulate chicory establishment. Subsequent nitrogen applications (30-50 lbs/acre) can be made after each grazing in the spring and fall up to 200 lbs/acre/year.
Grazing Management
Do not allow newly established chicory stands to be grazed until the chicory is at least 8 inches tall. This will generally occur 60 to 80 days after seeding, depending on climatic conditions. Chicory can be grazed to a stubble height of three inches. Chicory should be allowed to accumulate growth of four to six inches before going dormant in the fall.
Chicory will become dormant after the first frost of the year. Grazing may resume in the spring when the plant is at least ten inches tall.
We do not recommend continuously grazing chicory. Chicory production and animal performance is optimized under rotational stocking (rotational grazing) management. Depending on time of year and climatic conditions (and thus the rate of re-growth), a rest period of 14 to 25 days between grazing periods is best for chicory persistence and performance. A stubble height of three inches should remain after grazing. Caution should be taken to not over graze in August as chicory growth slows in August during periods of high temperatures.
