Farming and Wildlife : Greater Prairie Chicken

Greater Prairie Chicken

Series 4

Agriculture is one of Missouri's most important industries. About one-third of the state is devoted to crop production and another one-third produces livestock and forage. Farm management has a big impact on greater prairie chickens because so much of the state is devoted to agriculture. Prairie chickens require grassland habitat. In the 18OOs, the prairie chicken range covered nearly 30 percent of the state. Today nearly 93 percent of the original range is gone because prairies have been converted to cultivation. Eighty percent of Missouri's prairie chickens live on the remaining native prairie. Prairie chicken management on private land requires an understanding of how grassland management for livestock and forage affects this bird. Forage systems can be compatible with prairie chickens. The following pictures illustrate different farming practices and describe how prairie chicken habitat is positively or negatively impacted. As you review the photographs, think of your own farm conditions and compare them to the pictures. You will begin to see how your farm management practices, especially your livestock production practices, are affecting prairie chicken habitat.

Prairie Chicken Range

The prairie chicken is primarily found in west central Missouri where most of the state's remaining native prairie occurs. Small populations in central Missouri occupy marginal habitat that has been converted from native prairie to cropland and introduced cool-season grasses. Grassland is the most important component of prairie chicken habitat.

Prairie Chicken Habitat

The prairie chicken is an openland grassland bird with prairie or planted warm-season grasses as the preferred habitat. Wide vistas and open conditions of grass are preferred. Landscapes composed primarily of cropland or woodland do not support prairie chickens.

Rotation Grazing

Rotation grazing involves moving cattle between pastures to allow a period of rest and regrowth. Rotation grazing can improve forage production through increased development of grass roots and leaves. The taller grass in a pasture rotation system is used by prairie chickens for nesting and raising young.
Prairie chickens need 8 to 10 inches of grass height by mid-April for nesting. Pastures grazed in the winter usually do not have sufficient grass height by April for nesting. Prairie chickens will nest in fields that are being grazed by cattle if there is sufficient grass height.
Pastures that are grazed year round usually do not have sufficient grass height in mid-April for nesting. These pastures also may have soil erosion and low forage production.

Rotation Grazing with Native Grasses

The most productive forage rotation systems incorporate native warm-season grasses for summer grazing. These grasses grow during the hot summer months when fescue, redtop, timothy or orchardgrass stop growth. Prairie chickens prefer native grasses for nesting and winter cover.
Cool-season grasses are dormant during July and August. Forage value can be lower than native grasses at this time of the year. Grazing during the summer can make fescue, timothy, bromegrass and other similar grasses too short for prairie chickens.

Mowing Hayfields

Cool-season grasses such as bromegrass should not be mowed in the fall. There will not be sufficient grass height by mid-April to conceal prairie chicken nests.
Native grass should be mowed in early July and mowing height should not be less than 4 inches. Re-growth after July will produce sufficient grass height for prairie chicken nesting the following spring. Root reserves will also be sufficient for the following year's forage production.
Mowing native grass after August 1st or taking two cuttings per year will not allow sufficient regrowth before frost. Late mowing reduces hay quality and quantity and leaves the grass too short for prairie chickens.

Native Grass Management

Native grasses require different management from other grasses. Native grasses such as big bluestem, Indian-grass or switchgrass cannot be grazed any closer than 8 to 10 inches. The residual grass height is needed for root and leaf development that will produce next year's forage.
Overgrazing native grasses reduces root reserves which decreases plant vigor and yield. Cool-season grasses and weeds can invade pastures of heavily grazed native grass making the pastures less desirable for both livestock and prairie chickens.

Native Prairie Management

Forage production on native prairies is similar to management of planted native grasses. Fields should be mowed during the first two weeks of July to no shorter than 4 inches.
Native prairies can be managed with rotation haying for maximum prairie chicken benefits. Some portion of the prairie is rested a year and is mowed the following year. The rested portion of the prairie often produces more forage per acre the year after resting, compensating for production lost during the year before.

Prescribed Burning

Native prairies and planted native grasses require burning at 2 to 4 year intervals to control other grasses and woody sprouts and to stimulate forage production. Burning one-third of the prairie each year will avoid eliminating all nesting cover.
Prairie chickens may avoid pastures with woody sprouts and cool-season grasses. Do not overseed prairies with fescue because forage quality and quantity will be reduced. Unburned prairies with cool-season grasses and woody sprouts do not produce as much forage as prairies that are periodically burned.

Cool-Season Grass

Redtop, bromegrass and timothy can provide nesting cover for prairie chickens if rotation grazing is a management practice. Also, adding legumes to these grasses improves food sources for young prairie chickens and forage quality for livestock.
Hayfields and pastures comprised primarily of tall fescue make poor nesting and brood rearing habitat for prairie chickens.

Forage Utilization

Cool-season grass hayfields and pastures such as fescue, timothy, bromegrass and orchardgrass should have 3 to 6 inches of grass height over winter. Warm-season grasses such as switchgrass, Indiangrass and big bluestem should have at least 8 to 10 inches of grass height over winter. This grass height will ensure optimum forage the following spring and provide winter and nesting cover for prairie chickens.
Heavily used pastures and hayfields are rarely used by prairie chickens, especially during the winter. These fields provide little cover or food for prairie chickens and forage production may be low. Erosion can also be a problem on overgrazed fields.

Legume Management

Native grass forage can be improved with legumes such as lespedeza birdseed trefoil and Illinois bundle-flower. Red or ladino clover can be added to cool-season grass to increase production and forage quality. Prairie chickens feed on legume leaves and seeds and the insects that are attracted to clovers.
Hayfields and pastures without legumes have less food value for livestock and prairie chickens.

Conservation Tillage

Prairie chickens feed in cropfields especially during the winter. Conservation tillage to leave crop residues over the winter and at planting time provides food and cover for prairie chickens and reduces soil erosion.
Fall plowing or heavy discing eliminates food sources in the field during winter and exposes the soil to erosion.

Land Use Patterns and Prairie Chicken Habitat

Prairie chickens like large, flat grass fields because these birds prefer to see the horizon. Tall hedgerows or woodlots that obscure a long view make grassy areas less attractive to prairie chickens.
Fields smaller than 40 acres surrounded by trees or fencerows make better quail habitat than prairie chicken habitat.
Prairie chickens prefer landscapes that are 75 percent or more grassland.
Locations with less than 25 percent grass cannot support good numbers of prairie chickens.

You can determine how your farm rates as prairie chicken habitat by answering the following questions yes or no. Refer to the pictures if you are unsure how to answer a question.	Yes	No
Do you rotate cattle between pastures?
Do you rotate cattle between pastures several times per year?
Do you have any timothy, redtop, brome-grass or orchardgrass fields
Do you have any planted native grasses such as bluestem or Indiangrass?
Do you mow native grasses during the first 2 weeks of July?
Do you mow native grass no shorter than 4 inches and graze no closer than 8 to 10 inches?
Do you have any native prairie on your farm?
Do you keep legumes such as clover in your grass fields?
Do you use conservation tillage?
Is your farm and your neighbor's land primarily grass?
Are your crop and grass fields fairly large-at least 40 acres?

If you answered yes to eight or more of these questions then your farm may be good to excellent habitat for prairie chickens. If you answered five or less questions yes, your farm may have few or no prairie chickens. Farming and wildlife habitat can be compatible. Farms primarily of grassland with planted native warm-season grasses or native prairie support more prairie chickens than farms composed of primarily cropland or woodland. Grazing intensity and mowing schedules are very important to prairie chicken survival on your farm.

The Department of Conservation will provide help to Missouri landowners on wildlife habitat management. There are 12 wildlife services biologists located throughout the state who will visit your land and assist you with management plans for prairie chickens and other wildlife. You can also contact your local conservation agent for assistance.

For more information on farm practices that will benefit prairie chickens and protect the soil, contact the USDA Soil Conservation Service office in your county. Ask for a conservation farm plan so that you can have a complete assessment of your soil, wildlife and forest resources. You can even ask for a detailed appraisal of prairie chicken habitat on your farm. Both the Soil Conservation Service and Missouri Department of Conservation will assist you in making your farm good habitat for prairie chickens.