Effects of Sustainable and Conventional Agriculture on Farm Wildlife

View the project final report

• 1992 annual report

Commodities

• Agronomic: general silage crops

Practices

Specific objectives for the project included:
1.) Compare the effects of sustainable versus conventional crop management on the use of crop fields by bobwhite quail and other wildlife species.
2.) Determine the value of planted and non-planted habitats, such as field borders and ditch banks, as year-round habitat for quail and other wildlife species.
3.) Quantify direct and indirect effects of selected pesticides on bobwhite quail and other wildlife species.
4.) Compare the economic costs and benefits of wildlife habitat in sustainable versus conventional cropping environments.
5.) Utilize case studies of cooperating growers and a survey of landowners’ attitudes on wildlife management to develop guidelines for persuading farmers and landowners’ to adopt sustainable practices beneficial to wildlife.
6.) Offer viable suggestions for enhancing wildlife resources occupying the agricultural landscape without sacrificing farm profitability.