Chicory appears to offer a lot but have people had much success with establishing it within grazing swards in Northern Ireland?
Big tap root to break up heavy soils and cycle carbon and nutrients deeper into soil profile.
And a nice flower for pollinators plus the anthelmintic properties for grazing livestock.
Its clearly quite stemmy so I guess tricky to manage in cutting ground but for grazing looks a better option than the dockens!
Chicory has some interesting properties, including being drought tolerant, it would be good to find out more about this. I have not used it before. I came across one study in relation to chicory lamb weight gain done in Athrenry, it might be worth contacting Tim Keady there as he may have more information on establishment in existing swards. https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2010/ReseedingPastureChicoryOrTyfon.pdf