Maintaining Habitat

By Loren H. Frees, Resource Conservationist
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Hutchinson, Kansas

With all the quail buffers being installed on cropland fields these past years, maintenance will become a big issue. How do we keep the land in excellent condition? Should we leave the weeds or mow for better habitat? Then some trees start to show up, should we cut them down?

It is widely agreed that wildlife likes diversity. The more diversified, the more bird and animal numbers will be on the property. So let’s plant grass, and this will create all the diversity we need, wrong.

Native grass stands tend to create excessive ground litter. These dense mats of grass litter can become impassible barriers to young wildlife such as pheasants and quail. In the past, the recommended solution was to burn the strips.

Fortunately, we have other management items that can help increase wildlife. These solutions include strip disking, food plots, and interseeding. These items along with burning will increase the number of wildlife on the property.

Strip disking should be completed sometime in February or March before significant grass green up occurs. This practice should not need to be completed every year but may be completed not more than every four years on the same acreage. Disking areas within a field may be completed on a rotational basis. While the idea behind strip disking is to create a growth of weeds, it is important to remember that all noxious weeds must be controlled on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts. One should plan to avoid those areas of known noxious weed infestation.

Interseeding of forbs and legumes is a one-time practice that can diversify the planting to make it more valuable for wildlife. Before planting, heavy litter needs to be removed, possibly by burning the area before April, and then planting into the burned area. Some plant types for possible addition to the field are: alfalfa, sweet clover, Maximillian sunflower, purple prairieclover, and Illinois bundleflower.

Earlier it was commented that trees might show up; the trees need to be controlled. Hopefully, the burning, disking, or mowing of the field will take care of them, but, if necessary, a chain saw needs to be used and the stumps treated to prevent sprouting.

It is very important to note that before any of the above maintenance items are completed, you need to contact your local U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Service Center where the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) are located. Prior to completion of any maintenance practice, the practice will need to be included in your CRP Plan of Operations by the NRCS or a Technical Service Provider and approved by FSA.

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Last Modified: 08/20/2008