 LITTLE
ROCK – This is the perfect time for eligible row-crop
farmers to enroll in a new quail program from the USDA Farm
Service Agency.
It’s called CP33-Upland Habitat for Birds. It’s a Continuous
Conservation Reserve Program for cropland edges that aren’t
farmed. This is the perfect time because Arkansas has a cap
of 12,000 acres for the program and about 2,500 acres
already are enrolled.
The idea is to establish native grass borders around
row-crop fields to create habitat for quail, rabbits and
grassland songbirds. This habitat’s also great for turkey
and deer.
“Most crops are well into the growing season,” said David
Long, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission private land
coordinator. “Farmers can easily determine if they have
crops around the edge of a field that are low-yielding,
prone to drought, hard to irrigate or have reduced growth
rates because of forest edges shading and pulling soil
moisture out of the field. Comparing crop height and growth
in the middle of the field to the edges is a good way this
time of year to determine areas that are not very productive
from a crop-production standpoint.”
Other reasons besides better habitat make this program
attractive to farmers.
 “The
CP33 offers per-acre soil-rental payments to farmers each
year under a 10-year contract, along with an up-front,
one-time signing incentive payment of $100 per acre as an
added incentive to farmers,” Long said. “The yearly CRP
rental payments and the signing incentive payment – compared
to the cost of production and marginal yields along these
cropland edges – make it a no-brainer, especially with high
fuel costs and other higher input-production costs. Many
farmers are signing up field edges after evaluating yield
differences between the crop edge and interior of the
field.”
Farmers also receive a 50 percent cost-share and a 40
percent practice incentive payment for planting native
warm-season grasses.
“When you combine these two incentives, which cover about 90
percent of the cost to establish the grasses, it means a
farmer pays only 10 percent of the establishment cost,” Long
said. “If a farmer plants the buffer himself, it usually
costs even less. AGFC regional offices have native
warm-season grass planters available at no cost.”
Farmers should contact an AGFC regional office a couple of
weeks before planting.
The FSA has a method to determine soil-rental payments.
“Every soil on a farmer’s land has been assigned a rental
rate based on productivity of that soil,” Long said. “Rental
rates vary from a low of about $23 per acre up to $80 or
more. A maintenance payment of $4 per acre is added to the
base soil-rental rate, which provides additional financial
assistance to the farmer.”
 Native
grass buffers for quail and other wildlife under CP33 may
range from 30 feet to 120 feet wide.
“The wider the better for wildlife,” Long said. “We
recommend that farmers look at crop-production cost along
with yields, and consider going out to the full 120 feet,
especially when the CRP payment and the signing incentive
payment provide more income than producing a crop on
marginal cropland edges. For farmers raising dry-land
soybeans and other non-irrigated
crops, the CRP rental payment often provides more income
than a crop, considering crops along field edge – for
various reasons – tend to produce fewer bushels of beans or
other crops than the interior of the field.”
All cropland edges that were farmed four of six years
between 1996-2001 qualify for CP33. Farmers may enroll at a
county FSA office. Unlike regular CRP, farmers do not
compete to get in the program.
After grasses are established, management is crucial.
“FSA offers a 50 percent cost-share to conduct periodic
management such as light strip disking, inter-seeding
legumes and prescribed burns of native grass buffers,
usually on a three-year rotation,” Long said. “This
additional incentive keeps buffers in premium condition to
benefit quail and other wildlife. Without a periodic
disturbance, grass stands become too thick and build up a
layer of dead plant materials, which makes them unsuitable
for quail and other grassland birds.
“This practice can do at least three things for farmers.
“First, it allows marginally profitable cropland to receive
rental payments.
“Second, it creates premium wildlife habitat while taking
small amounts of cropland out of production for a 10-year
period, which can create hunting opportunities for the farm
family and friends. A quail buffer 120 feet wide and a
quarter-mile long covers 3.6 acres of cropland but reaps
huge benefits to the farmer.
“Third, buffers help keep soil on the farm, which improves
water quality in adjoining rivers and streams.”
Check the nearest FSA office for more information, or call
an AGFC private lands biologist toll-free:
Brinkley: 877-734-4581
Calico Rock: 877-297-4331
Camden: 877-836-4612
Fort Smith: 877-478-1043
Hope: 877-777-5580 |
Hot Springs: 877-525-8606
Jonesboro: 877-972-5438
Little Rock: 877-470-3650
Monticello: 877-367-3559
Russellville: 877-967-7577 |
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