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Farmers in 3 northeast counties are eligible for initiative that aims to increase the nesting habitat for pheasants.

Curt Arens, Editor, Nebraska Farmer

May 29, 2019

5 Min Read
tractor in field
INCREASING SMALL GRAINS: Adding small grains such as oats to the crop rotation can increase the nesting habitat for pheasants, along with providing soil health benefits.

Knox, Cedar and Dixon counties are traditional small grain production areas in Nebraska, particularly for oats, dating back decades. However, corn and soybeans have taken over much of the small grain acreage in every part of the state, including the traditional oats counties.

A new partnership between the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Pheasants Forever, USDA and the Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District — which covers those three counties — is working to provide farmers with incentives to plant small grains to improve habitat for wildlife, particularly pheasants.

The Northeast Nebraska Small Grains Incentive Program will begin in the LCNRD in 2020, with NGPC providing financial incentives of $8 per acre to farmers who are adding small grains to their crop rotations in wildlife priority areas. The NRD will pay for incentives for small grain fields within the LCNRD but outside the NGPC priority areas.

"LCNRD is the perfect spot to begin SGIP, because there are many producers in the area who are interested in diversifying their operation and trying to increase profitability, improve soil health and water quality, and benefit wildlife," LCNRD general manager Annette Sudbeck says.

Farmers can sign up for Environmental Quality Incentives Program payments for adding a third crop — a small grain in this case — to their crop rotation. This new program would roughly double the EQIP payment, using Berggren Pheasant Plan funds to pay for the incentives during the year that a small grain is grown.

In 2018, Nebraska farms planted 125,000 acres of oats for all purposes, with 22,000 acres harvested for grain. But in 1924, farms in the state planted 2.28 million acres of oats, 3 million acres of wheat and more than 158,000 acres of rye.

The loss of small grain production and other forms of habitat, along with storms and winter weather, has taken a toll on pheasant numbers. When pheasant populations were at their highest, small grains were common on all farms, and the landscape included a variety of row crops, small grains, hay, pasture, set-aside acres before the existence of Conservation Reserve Program land, weedy areas, thickets, and shelterbelts.

"The science behind all of this is actually a renaissance of old knowledge combined with some speculation," says Jason Thiele, NGPC private lands biologist. "Looking at the classic literature on ring-necked pheasants, we see that when small grains like wheat and oats were commonly grown in the past, they provided a substantial contribution to the nesting and brooding habitat.

“Pheasants were produced in small grain fields because they green up early in the spring and tend to reach the vegetative height and structure that hen pheasants are looking for when selecting nest sites around the middle of May."

In drier parts of the state, a substantial portion of the pheasant population is produced from wheat fields, Thiele says. In late spring and summer until harvest, small grain fields offer a greater abundance of insects than row crops to feed pheasant chicks, he says.

"It has been a while since small grains were common in northeast Nebraska," he explains. "While we may not return to that situation, we do believe that small grains can supplement nesting habitat for existing populations of birds.”

"Planting a few acres of oats in the middle of a township that contains only corn or soybean fields is not going to bring pheasants back, but adding a small grain field to a landscape that contains a mix of CRP fields, crop fields and pasture could make good pheasant habitat better," Thiele adds. "We will be monitoring the bird response as more farmers enroll in the program."

Thiele and the LCNRD board of directors also are aware of other benefits of small grains. "We certainly recognize the benefits that small grains can have for soil health and water quality, especially when followed by a cover crop," he says.

Sudbeck says the conversion of permanent grass to conventional row crops over the years has reduced wildlife habitat and affected nutrient runoff and leaching to surface and groundwater.

"LCNRD is drafting a water quality management plan with Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in response to surface and groundwater contamination in the district," she says. "The priority areas identified in the plan include portions of Bow Creek, Bazile Creek and Howe Creek, and the pollutants of concern are E. coli and nitrogen in surface water and nitrates in groundwater. SGIP provides the opportunity to increase year-round soil cover and root growth, which will play an important role in reducing nutrients that could be washed or leached to water systems."

"The program has few stipulations other than that the small grain should be planted early enough to provide suitable nesting cover, which is 10 inches or more in height, by mid- to late May and should not be cut before July 15 to minimize the risk of destroying nests," Thiele says.

"Postharvest management of the field is up to the farmer, but NGPC can provide a slight increase in payment for wildlife-friendly practices like leaving tall stubble or planting an approved cover crop that could offer fall and winter cover."

Right now, SGIP is only available in the LCNRD, but it could expand to others.

"Farmers should definitely read up on the soil health benefits that can be realized if small grains are utilized over several rotation periods, because that is probably the ultimate prize for making the change," Thiele says. "If they are interested, they should contact their NRCS [Natural Resources Conservation Service] representative at their local USDA service center about enrolling in EQIP or the Conservation Stewardship Program to receive the conservation crop rotation incentives.

“Regardless of whether a farmer is eligible for one of the NRCS programs, the next step would be to apply for SGIP by completing a one-page application that is available through the LCNRD office in Hartington, Neb., USDA service centers in Hartington, Bloomfield or Ponca, or NGPC office in Norfolk."

Funding will be distributed for the program on a first-come, first-served basis.

Learn more by contacting Thiele at 402-370-0010 or email [email protected].

About the Author(s)

Curt Arens

Editor, Nebraska Farmer

Curt Arens began writing about Nebraska’s farm families when he was in high school. Before joining Farm Progress as a field editor in April 2010, he had worked as a freelance farm writer for 27 years, first for newspapers and then for farm magazines, including Nebraska Farmer.

His real full-time career, however, during that same period was farming his family’s fourth generation land in northeast Nebraska. He also operated his Christmas tree farm and grew black oil sunflowers for wild birdseed. Curt continues to raise corn, soybeans and alfalfa and runs a cow-calf herd.

Curt and his wife Donna have four children, Lauren, Taylor, Zachary and Benjamin. They are active in their church and St. Rose School in Crofton, where Donna teaches and their children attend classes.

Previously, the 1986 University of Nebraska animal science graduate wrote a weekly rural life column, developed a farm radio program and wrote books about farm direct marketing and farmers markets. He received media honors from the Nebraska Forest Service, Center for Rural Affairs and Northeast Nebraska Experimental Farm Association.

He wrote about the spiritual side of farming in his 2008 book, “Down to Earth: Celebrating a Blessed Life on the Land,” garnering a Catholic Press Association award.

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