The plots were established on 21st April 2021 as part of an Organic Fyvie with added red clover reseed, which was under sown under a mixture of spring oats and forage peas.
The field rises to 250m (810ft) at the top and is an Ettrick Series soil of the Achie Association (brown earth with gentle slopes and rocky outcrops). Land classification 4.2. In essence a good site to look at persistency over winter and resilience in periods of drought.
For the past three seasons, Giles and Stuart Henry have managed the field utilising yearling Luing and AA steers under a rotational paddock grazing system. Initially the paddocks were 1 ha, but to aid utilisation and lengthen the rotation they were further divided into 0.5 ha paddocks. There are four plots of 0.3 ha with Puna II, Punter and Choice chicory mixed at 2.6% inclusion of 37kg/ha. We also included 2.5% of the plantain varieties Tuatara, Hercules, Ecotain and Agritonic.
The field has neither been topped or cut for silage since the wholecrop oats and peas were baled in July 2021. It has also only ever seen cattle; no sheep or lambs have grazed the field!
We have monitored the population of chicory and plantain over the last 3 years and as of October 2023, there are more plants, of both species, across all the plots than we originally established in 2021.
The initial findings are that management of the grazing rotation allied with sufficient periods of rest and recovery (28 to 40 days) has allowed both the chicory and plantain to build up root reserves and set seed at points in the season to allow new plants to germinate.
Giles and Stuart are leaving higher residuals 2000 to 2200kg DM (6-8cm) after each grazing round and coming back in at higher covers – up to 3500kg DM. The higher covers tend to protect the soils from evaporation and better conserve the limited moisture in periods of high soil moisture deficit (SMD).
The field has good levels of pH, P and K and the rooting mass and soil biology looks very impressive with abundant worm casts, beetle activity and fungal spores all evident. We will continue to monitor the chicory and plantain varieties for persistence, especially with the requirement for early spring growth to give yearling calves a rise in nutritional availability.
