Pure stands of 'Grasslands Puna' chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) are productive and responsive to N fertilization in the eastern USA.We conducted a field experiment for 3 yr to investigate productivity and nutritive value of swards including chicory, orchard grass (Dactylis g/omerata L.), and birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus comicu/atus L.) as a func· tion of clipping frequency (3-and 6-wk intervals). Each treatment was replicated three times on an upland site of Dekalb series soil (loamy-skeletal, mixed, subactive, mesic Typic Dystrochrept). Modest rates of N, P, and K were applied annually. Herbage mass, botanical composition, in vitro organic matter disappearance (IVOMD), and crude protein (CP) were determined. Cumulative herbage yield was not influenced by initial sward composition with chicory, chicoryorchardgrass, and chicory-orchardgrass-trefoil averaging 6.8 Mg ha-• during a growing season. Clipping frequency influenced yield with canopies clipped at 6-wk intervals producing 26% more herbage than those clipped at 3-wk intervals. Growth rates of canopies clipped at 6-wk intervals averaged 51 kg ha-• d-1 early in the growing season, suggesting that swards including chicory would be responsive to nutrient inputs and where rapid herbage regrowth and nutrient use by the growing crop are needed. Chicory declined in swards with time, regardless of initial sward composition or clipping frequency. Fluctuations in IVOMD and CP were related to changes in sward composition arising from the interaction of time and clipping frequency. Including orchardgrass and trefoil retarded invasion of less desirable species and so provided a means to control overall sward productivity and herbage composition.

value of chicory herbage and to identify nutrient inputs that sustain production, especially when high rates of Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), a highly productive forage under N are applied. Crush and Evans (1990) and Reid et al. midsummer conditions in the eastern USA, often has higher concentrations of minerals relative to grasses and legumes. Low concentra- (1993) reported that the mineral composition of forage tions of minerals in herbage could reduce production efficiency or chicory was comparable to or exceeded that of white create metabolic disorders in livestock. Information on the mineral and red clover (Trifolium repens and T. pratense, respeccomposition of chicory is limited, but it is needed to improve our tively) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Minunderstanding of nutritive value and inputs required to sustain chicory eral concentrations in chicory met or exceeded recomproduction, especially where high rates of N are applied. We conmended dietary mineral requirements of lactating dairy ducted field experiments for 3 yr on a Ramsey soil (Loamy, siliceous, cows (Jung et al., 1996), and because chicory had a subactive, mesic Lithic Dystrudept) in southern West Virginia to derelatively high B concentration, fertilization with B termine (i) response to increasing fertilizer N and (ii) production of might be warranted. Herbage may contain mineral conchicory as a component of swards, including grass and legume as a centrations that theoretically meet livestock requirefunction of clipping frequency. Mineral concentrations and uptake in available herbage generally increased as N rate increased and were

Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is highly productive and responsive to N fertilization under midsummer conditions in the eastern USA. We conducted a field experiment for 3 yr on a Ramsey soil (loamy, siliceous, subactive, mesic Lithic Dystrudept) in southern West Virginia to determine if fertilizer N influenced forage chicory nutritive value and NO3–N concentration. Each N rate (0, 80, 160, 240, or 480 kg N ha−1) was replicated three times in a randomized block design. Swards were clipped at 6‐wk intervals during the growing season. Swards were virtually pure chicory in the first year (1994) regardless of N rate. By the third year (1996), chicory ranged from about 40% (0 N) to less than 5% (480 kg N ha−1) of swards. Botanical composition changes in the sward influenced dry matter (DM) response to N rate and herbage nutritive value. Dry matter production increased with N rate in 1994, but was not affected by N in 1996 when chicory was not a major sward component. More than 70% of total annual DM production in 1994 occurred after the first harvest, but by 1996 was less than 50%, reflecting productivity patterns typical of cool‐season swards. Nitrate concentrations in herbage were greatest (3.5 g kg−1) in 1995, a relatively dry year, and least (2.3 g kg−1) in 1996, when there was less chicory in the sward. Crude protein (CP) and in vitro organic matter disappearance (IVOMD) values indicated high forage quality throughout the course of the experiment.

Pasture managers seek to balance leaf appearance with utilization to sustain sward productivity while meeting livestock nutritional needs. Achieving this in silvopasture must account for the influence of light and defoliation on tillering. We determined tiller production, as a function of light availability and clipping height, for two forage grasses adapted to cool, humid temperate conditions of the Appalachian region of the USA. Tiller production of cocksfoot (orchard grass) (Dactylis glomerata L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) was greatest in unshaded and least in shaded sites, irrespective of residual clipping height. Juvenile plants produced more than twice as many tillers as mature plants, with differences accentuated by site, reflecting a shift in reproductive and resource-use strategies. Trends in tiller production were as follows: cocksfoot > tall fescue; 10-cm > 5-cm residual clipping height; and unshaded > partially shaded > densely shaded sites. Tiller production reaches maximum earlier in the woodlot site, regardless of species or clipping height, than at the unshaded site. Plants at the wooded site extended leaves quickly, sustaining herbage production, but had less non-structural carbohydrate and fewer tillers. Cocksfoot, but not tall fescue, sustained leaf and tiller production in the shaded sites, suggesting that cocksfoot is suited for use in silvopasture in this region.

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