Cover Types Planted on Illinois CP-1 CRP Fields. Administrative Report

摘要

Illinois farmers enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) entered 87of CRP acres in the introduced grass and legume practice (CP-1). We determined vegetative cover planted by farm operators on fields enrolled in CP-1 by examining files at 87 USDA county offices in Illinois. In a sample of 2,472 CP-1 fields from the first 9 enrollment periods, orchard grass was the most commonly planted species; in all, landowners planted 26 species of grasses and legumes on Illinois CP-1 fields. Farmers seeded mixtures of smooth brome and alfalfa on 49% (106,609 acres) in the Illinois range of the ring-necked pheasant. We judge 204,820 acres (95% of CP-1) in the pheasant range to be suitable pheasant nest cover if unmowed. Farm operators planted mixtures containing Korean lespedeza on 138,944 acres (30%) of CP-1 in the range of the northern bobwhite; bobwhite range farmers planted 95,579 acres (21%) with tall fescue. We judge 240,568 acres (52%) in the quail range to be suitable bobwhite nest cover for a limited time if unmowed. We provide recommendations for CRP cover management for pheasant and bobwhite habitat.