The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA-Farm Service Agency, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Pheasants Foreve is hosting a workshop for landowners who would like to learn more about mid-contract management (MCM) for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). This workshop is free and open to the public.
Landowners will be informed about the importance of MCM on CRP, why it is required and how MCM can improve the quality of CRP. The rules and billing information involved with MCM will also be discussed. Additionally, learn which MCM options are eligible for a particular CRP practice as well as which option(s) would be best suited to meet individual objectives. Feel free to bring a map of current CRPs if participants are interested in discussing details about MCM on their property with a wildlife biologist.
This workshop will also be informative for landowners who have native plantings that also benefit from periodic disturbance. Under natural conditions, plant communities experience disturbance from grazing, fire, storms and other events. This disturbance causes a plant community to change by setting back grasses and allowing flowering plants to grow, also referred to as early successional habitat. Without disturbance, grassland plant communities may lose some of their wildlife habitat benefits and become dominated by grasses or possibly overgrown with volunteer trees.
The workshop is from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, March 26, at the O’Riley Center, 417 Wyoming Ave., in Creston. Coffee, cookies and ice cream will be provided. It is preferred, not required to RSVP to Dixie Baker at 641-782-4218. For more information, contact Kelsey Fleming at 712-660-0880 or kfleming@pheasantsforever.org.