During the first years after planting, Conservation Reserve Program
Some newer CRP contracts like CP33 and CP38E require 3lbs of wildflowers with a reduced grass seeding rate, theoretically reducing the need for disturbance early into the contract
(CRP) fields usually contain varieties of planted grasses, legumes, foxtail and volunteer grasses and weeds because it takes time to establish the desired plant species. This variety provides the best quail habitat. As the grasses thicken, the legumes, weeds, and bare spaces between the plants decrease, as does the attractiveness of the field to quail. As long as the field has a wide variety of plants, it can provide most bobwhite quail needs, including roosting & nesting cover, food, and brood rearing habitat. During this stage, quail may not leave the fields except to go to daytime loafing areas or to dense cover during periods of ice or snow.
As grass plantings on CRP acres mature, changes in plant composition
will occur. These changes can have a positive or negative effect on bobwhite quail and other wildlife based on how you manage the field. When the grass begins to crowd out the legumes and weeds (usually 3 to 4 years after establishment), the main benefit to quail is nesting cover. Once the legumes and patches of bare ground disappear, the field will seldom be used by quail. Mid-contract management (MCM) techniques can be used to maintain the overall best habitat conditions for wildlife.
As luck would have it, mid contract management is mandatory on certain CRP contracts to improve the habitat conditions for ground nesting birds and other wildlife. These management activities include prescribed burning, strip disking and chemical application. The following provides information on how to properly conduct mid contract management practices to improve quail habitat.
CRP management activities are required on Signup 26 (2003) and subsequent signups. Management practices will be applied to approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the contract acreage each year. See your local FSA office for details on which year your contract requires mid contract management.
Prescribed Burning
Burning during the prescribed dates will remove heavy thatch, set
Late Summer burns are an excellent way to set back warm season grass and eliminate woody sprouts on CRP acres!
back grasses, and encourage wildflowers, legumes, and seed-producing plants. Prescribed burns should be conducted on a 3-year rotation. Only 1/3 to 1/2 of the contract acreage, including firebreaks, can be burned annually. Native warm-season grasses shall be burned anytime between the dates of July 16th and March 15th. Cool-season grasses shall be burned between the dates of March 15th and April 30th. Recent Change: If your contract is under 20 acres, you can make a request to FSA for a modification to treat all the acres in one year!
Strip Disking
Provides essential brood rearing habitat and promotes annual seed-producing plants. Rotate disked strips (maximum 75 feet wide) with undisked strips (two times the disked width) across the field with the contour. Disk 2 to 4 inches deep. A maximum of 1/2 of each CRP field will be disked annually. Disking is allowed between July 16th and March 31st. Recent Change: If your contract is under 20 acres, you can make a request to FSA for a modification to treat all the acres in one year!
Chemical Application
Selective herbicide application can retard growth of one grass to allow growth of other species to diversify stand. Herbicides can be applied in strips totaling no more than 1/3 to ½ of each CRP field in any one year. Use rates, consistent with the label for the product being applied, which will temporarily retard vegetation without a complete kill. Apply herbicides when grasses are actively growing. Warm-season grasses shall be sprayed between July 16th and September 15th and cool-season grasses may be sprayed between March 15th and April 30th or October 1st and December 1st. Recent Change: If your contract is under 20 acres, you can make a request to FSA for a modification to treat all the acres in one year!
Folks always ask, “What about mowing?” Mowing is only allowed as a component in conjunction with prescribed burning, strip disking and chemical application on newer CRP contracts. A recent change to the exhibit 17 will allow FSA to pay cost share if mowing before disking or chemical suppression. In fact, mowing is only allowed immediately prior to the application of the management practice, and is limited to the contract acres on which the management will be applied. Mowing is not an acceptable stand alone management practice on CRP and actually hurts most species of wildlife!
It should be noted that with the recent changes to mid contract management rules, that you can now receive cost share for double treating some CRP acreage. An example would be that you can now conduct a prescribed burn, then treat the same acres with a disk….and receive cost share for both treatments. These double treatments are an excellent way to get the desired vegetation response for a person interested in managing for quail. The third part of this series will focus on enhancing your CRP acres with legumes, shrubby cover and food plots.
