Goats in the Chicory

Experimenting with some Chicory this year. I over seeded some Chicory in different parts of the pasture last September. It is doing very well in the parts that I have fertilized.  It is high quality forage with a long growing season. I think I found my source for summer grazing. I am trying to get away from Bermuda an Bahia because of its low to the ground growth. As a plus, there are some studies that suggest it may be beneficial in lowering the parasite loads in the goats. Chicory is drought tolerant due to its deep tap root and it is tolerant of soils with low PH. The only drawback for me is that it requires lots of nitrogen fertilizer. I will put out Crimson Clover in the fall with it so it can use the nitrogen produced by the clover for spring growth and fertilize it later in the summer. 

Some links to UGA information on Chicory:

UGA - Chicory Variety Trials

UGA - Chicory For High Quality Pastures

Goats looking for chicory from DoRan Goats on Vimeo.