Abstracts

Presented by Jacob Gross - Email: jacob_gross@fws.gov

Agricultural crops provide key energy resources for millions of wintering waterfowl on National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) in the southern part of the Mississippi Flyway. Commercial rice, corn, and milo are the main crops produced on NWRs through cooperative partnerships with private farmers because of their high-energy values. Cooperative farming on NWRs has declined substantially over the last 10 years, due to policy restrictions, changing farming practices, and other factors. National Wildlife Refuges must now rely on their staff to grow crops and moist-soil plants to meet waterfowl foraging objectives utilizing conventional farming methods. Staff at Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge have been experimenting with new, cost-effective rice farming methods to produce high yields but at a much lower cost compared to conventional methods. Two weeks before broadcasting rice in June we utilized drum rollers in flooded fields to aggressively disturb the soil and remove late successional vegetation. Field preparation methods greatly reduced the use of herbicides, aided in the prevention of fall armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda) without insecticides, and shortened the gap between plant maturity and waterfowl use in late November. Total rice production costs were approximately $40/acre (~25,000 DED/acre) compared to approximately $500/acre (~38,000 DED/acre) for conventional farming methods. The drawdown progression we followed for rice farming in June also coincides with the optimal emergence dates of desirable moist-soil plants such as jungle rice (Echinochloa colona), fall panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorum) and Amazon sprangletop (Leptochloa panicoides). Our results should provide waterfowl managers insight on identifying affordable alternatives to conventional farming, while maximizing both cereal grain and moist-soil seed yields for wintering waterfowl.