Habitat Buffers for Bobwhite Quail
For the first time, Kansas producers can enroll habitat buffers around
cropland into the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) to benefit bobwhite quail and other upland
bird species. The purpose of this practice is to reverse the long-term
decline of quail and other upland bird populations by providing
needed nesting and brood-rearing habitat adjacent to cropland. These
important components of quail habitat have declined due to
improved grazing and cropping practices — the elimination of weedy
field borders, abandoned farmsteads, and small disturbed areas.
Enrollment of habitat buffers is limited to 20,000 acres in Kansas with the
state divided into two priority areas. The eastern one-third of the state was
allocated 15,000 acres with 5,000 acres going to the western two-thirds of the
state. Buffers will be enrolled on a first-come first-served basis until the acre
limitation is reached.
Buffers must be enrolled around the outside edges of
cropland fields and must meet basic eligibility and cropping history criteria
for Conservation Reserve Program. Buffers must be an average of 30 to 120 feet
wide and planted to a mixture of native warm season grasses with legumes,
wildflowers, or forbs. A limited amount of shrubs may be planted (no more than
ten percent of the buffer area). Cropland acres remaining in the field must be
greater than enrolled buffer acres. Buffers may not be used for turn rows,
roads, or the storage of crops or equipment.
Continuous CRP Sign-up: Producers Benefits
- Payments
- Sign-up bonus
- Annual rental payment
- 90% cost share for cover establishment
- Improved Quail Numbers
- Recreational hunting
- Fee hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Management
- Low production areas along trees
- No more fighting branches/fallen trees
- Square up hart-to-farm fields
- Open Enrollment
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Photo: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks |
Participating Organizations
- USDA - Farm Service Agency
- USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Local Conservation District
Contact your local
USDA Service Center for information about enrollment of this practice.
This information is also available in
Adobe Acrobat.
Habitat
Buffers for Bobwhite Quail Brochure (PDF; 284 KB)
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