Minnesota DNR work group asking for farmer volunteers to look at whether cover crops benefit pheasants
Feb. 9—SACRED HEART
— Farmers are showing an increasing interest in cover crops due to their benefits to the soil, weed and pest control — and to their bottom line.
Research scientist Tim Lyons and his fellow members with the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's
Farmland Wildlife Population and Research Group in Madelia have a lot of interest in cover crops too. The research group is tasked with conducting wildlife research, monitoring populations and providing guidance to wildlife managers and administrators, according to the DNR.
They see cover crops as potentially offering benefits to wildlife in the state's agricultural areas.
In particular, they'd like to know if cover crops can help increase pheasant numbers.
Lyons and Nicole Davros, research group leader and a wildlife research scientist, and Steven Woodley, also a wildlife research scientist, are in the midst of reaching out to farmers who are using cover crops in hopes they will help them with a research project.
The research goals are to compare hen survival and nesting success — as well as brood survival — in areas with cover crops as compared to areas without, Lyons told participants at a soil health seminar co-hosted by the Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Hawk Creek Watershed Project on Jan. 26 in Sacred Heart.
Questions the research is hoping to answer: Are pheasant populations better in areas where the birds have access to the food resources provided by cover crops? Do the cover crops help disperse the birds and reduce mortality due to predation?
The heydays of Minnesota's pheasant hunting were in the 1950s and 1960s, when a more diverse agricultural landscape with a greater share of crops such as small grains provided food resources for the birds, Lyons said.
Surprisingly, there has been only limited research on the benefits of cover crops to wildlife.
The findings from the few studies available are somewhat mixed. The studies have mainly looked at whether cover crops benefit nesting for pheasants and ducks, and found that both prefer to nest in grasslands, and do not use cover crops for nesting.
But Lyons said a study in Canada found that young chicks and hens definitely like to hang out in cover crops. There are more insects and seeds for food in fields covered by cover crops in the spring, even after the cover crops are terminated by the use of herbicides.
Lyons said the DNR believes the best benefits will occur when cover crops are located in areas adjacent to or within two miles of grasslands. As is always the case, the larger the grassland, the greater the benefit to pheasants.
For purposes of the study, researchers are hoping to find farmers with cover crops within two miles of both smaller and larger parcels of grasslands.
The researchers are hoping to conduct the study over a three-year period. They intend to use drones equipped with thermal imaging to spot pheasants in fields at night so that a two-person ground crew can use nets to capture them. Each captured bird will be equipped with a GPS device so it can be tracked.
Cover crops are currently being planted on only about 3% of the cropland in the state, or roughly 579,000 acres as compared to 22 million acres of cropped lands, according to Lyons.
If cover crop use increases, that could help grow the state's pheasant population. Providing more resources on private farmland is more important than ever. Rising commodity prices have led to a decrease in the lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, Lyons pointed out.
Farmers with cover crops interested in the research can contact Nicole Davros, farmland wildlife research supervisor, at 507-578-8916 or by emailing
to learn more.
Relatedly, Lyons said he is not aware of any research looking at whether cover crops benefit whitetail deer, but participants at the seminar said they have no doubt.
In western Renville County, farmers with cover crops report seeing large numbers of deer in their fields with cover crops during the winter. Lyons noted that the typical mix of seeds for food plots include many plants used for cover crops.
