Expired CRP Impacts Habitat
Thousands of acres are set to expire from conservation programs this next year, what farmers and ranchers decideto do with this land will have an impact on wildlife habitat. I’m Jeff Keane stay tuned, I’ll return after the break with some options that will please conservationists and bird hunters. Conservation groups like Pheasant and Ducks Unlimited are concerned that as the CRP land expires valuable bird habitat will be lost, Susan Allen is here to tell us a few options for landowners Jeff, some of the programs we’ll mention will pay a dividend to farmers that elect to enroll in them making it more lucrative to those of you that lease hunting rights. For Example, CRP land can be enrolled in continuous buffer and filter strips that shouldn’t impact crop production much. Jeff, the premise is that yields are already reduced at the edges fields especially in areas the soil is prone to compaction. A buffer strip program like CP-33 called the Northern Bobwhite Quail Initiative will pay you to plant buffer zones between crops in native grasses which in turn provide pheasant and quail habitat. Susan it’s hard for landowners to keep these programs straight, like EQIP Environmental Quality Incentives Programs or WHIP, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Programs. The National Resource Conservation Services can help, also your Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologists are a great sources of information and options I’m Jeff keanse
