FSA offers new incentives for CRP landowners

It isn’t pheasant under glass, but the Farm Service Agency is offering CRP landowenrs tasty new incentives to boost their pheasant populations. 

In an effort to help pheasant populations and other wildlife the Conservation Reserve Program is offering extra income to its panhandle participants.

Areas of the panhandle deemed ‘Pheasant Opportunity Areas” may apply for the extra funding, in one of two ways. 

The first is for a five year contract for the Open Fields-and Waters Program which makes land owners eligible for $40 per acre and $10 per acre for the term of the agreement.

If participating in this program, participants must allow for their land to be open for hunting. 

The second option is for landowners who do not want to have hunters to have access to their land, these landowners can still receive $25 an acre. This only applies to lands that are no further than one mile from open hunting lands. 

Open hunting lands include Open Field and Waters program land, wildlife management areas and U.S. Forest service lands.

Landowners will receive a wildlife habitat plan that is specific to their land, they may be required to seed parts of the land or make other changes. 

“We may ask that you add native grasses and forbs to the property. If you have a stand of cool season grasses,” Shelly Steffl, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission private lands biologist said in a Game and Parks press release. 

“Perhaps you add a herbicide treatment to help set back the grasses and allow for better establishment of those plantings,” she said. “In providing these incentives, we hope to help landowners offset the upfront costs necessary to establish or maintain their CRP while helping to provide quality habitat for wildlife.”