Subject: Re: FW: Chicory Is a Biological Plow and Sponge, All in One

From: Bargyla Rateaver <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 17:39:56 -0700

Newman Turner in his book, Fertility Pastures, says this about chicory, which he
found to be one of the 3 best liked herbs in his pastures:

"Of all the plants available to the farmer, none provides a richer source of all
the minerals and trace elements, vitamins and plant hormones than chicory.
    "Its thick tap root penetrates, during the normal period of the pasture, a
depth of anything up to 10 ft, gathering and transmitting to its stem and leaves
all the known minerals and micorelements necessary for animal health and
fertility.
    "Chicory will grow anywhere, Its deep roots will seek out its own
nutritional and moisture requirements over a wide area and great depth,
resulting in its survival under almost any conditions....."
  etc etc   So everyone else finding chicory valuable is a johhny- come -lately.

Lon J. Rombough wrote:

> ----------
> From: "ARS News Service" <[email-masked]>
> To: "ARS News List" <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Chicory Is a Biological Plow and Sponge, All in One
> Date: Thu, Jun 24, 1999, 6:48 AM
>
> STORY LEAD:
> Chicory Is a Biological Plow and Sponge, All in One
>
> -----------
> ARS News Service
> Agricultural Research Service, USDA
> Don Comis, (301) 504-1625, [email-masked]
> June 24, 1999
> -----------
>
> Chicory, a hardy plant that can survive the sidewalk jungle, may be just the
> thing for pastoral rigors as well, according to a scientist with the
> Agricultural Research Service, USDA's chief scientific wing.
>
> With its carrot-like taproot, chicory can plow its way down to great depths
> through hard, marginal soils--and even cracks in a sidewalk.  In a pasture,
> it relentlessly recycles excess soil nitrogen into protein for livestock
> before the nitrogen can pollute groundwater.  The deep rooting could also
> explain how chicory stays green and leafy in hot, dry summers--to keep
> feeding sheep and cattle after most pasture plants have stopped growing.
>
> Chicory's nitrogen appetite seems endless. ARS agronomist David P. Belesky
> found that this biological sponge can soak it up even at commercial
> fertilizer rates as high as 425 pounds an acre.
>
> At ARS' Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center in Beaver, W.Va.,
> Belesky and colleagues have been testing three varieties--Grasslands Puna,
> Forage Feast and Lacerta--on Appalachian pastures for the past four years.
>
> Now they're checking the plant's appetite for nitrogen, phosphorus and other
> nutrients in composted turkey litter cleaned from turkey houses.   It could
> become the preferred fertilizer for pastures in West Virginia, because it is
> inexpensive and readily available from nearby turkey farms.  British United
> Turkeys of America, a turkey-production firm with breeding operations in
> southern West Virginia, is helping with the tests.
>
> Belesky and colleagues are testing the chicory in a pasture mix of
> orchardgrass and white clover.   They want to see whether the deep-rooting
> chicory and orchardgrass can soak up any nitrogen and water missed by the
> shallow-rooting clover.  A story about the research appears in the June
> issue of ARS' Agricultural Research magazine and on the web at:
>
>  http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun99/turk0699.htm
>
> ----------
> Scientific contact: David P. Belesky, ARS Appalachian Farming Systems
> Research Center, 1224 Airport Rd., Beaver, WV 25813-9423; phone (304)
> 256-2841, fax (304) 256-2921, [email-masked].
> ----------
> This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
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> * Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: [email-masked].
> * ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
> 20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648.
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