Archive
Southeastern Prairie Symposium
May 14-17, 2012
Starkville, Mississippi
Converting Cropland to Perennial Grassland
Converting croplands to perennial grasslands – a publication from ATTRA.
Prairie Restoration “Tricks of the Trade”
Conservation Maven points out a great article about what works and what doesn’t when restoring native prairie.
Establishing Native Grasses and Forbs
A new research advance entitled “Evaluating Pre-emergence Herbicides for Establishing Native Grasses and Forbs” from Mississippi State’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center. And yes, it’s a shameless plug for my own research.
Field Borders for Wildlife
Missouri Extension has published a great guide for installing field borders (herbaceous strips of vegetation replacing crops at field edges) entitled Field borders for agronomic, economic and wildlife benefits. The document illustrates some important principles of corridor design that we focus on in my course, but that are not incorporated (intentionally!) into farm plans nearly enough. The document is b/w, but color versions of the pictures can be viewed on the html version HERE.
Natural Grasslands = Tastier meat
A recent study from the UK suggests that cattle and sheep that graze on natural grasslands (vs. improved pastures) may be both tastier and healthier. Links to the ESRC report HERE, news releases HERE and HERE.
Would tastier and healthier meat command a higher price at market? This finding, if replicated, could be a powerful incentive for producers to incorporate more natural/native grass into grazing systems, which would likely benefit grassland birds and other wildlife.
Thanks to the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog.
Common Sense Conservation
CP33 – Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds – is a relatively new practice available through continuous sign-up Conservation Reserve Program. Specifications for the buffers were designed with northern bobwhite and other grassland birds in mind. A big plus is that economic research suggests these buffers are profitable for the producer, too.
Listen to 4 farmers tell their own story (click image below) about incorporating CP33 Habitat Buffers into their farming operations (courtesy Forestry & Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University).
