PRECISION AG

                                                 Article posted in Quail Forever - Georgia on 7-13-21

 

                                                 Chaz Holt, Quail Forever’s precision ag and conservationist specialist, worked closely with

                                                 Davis Family Farms to help enroll 1,274 acres into the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

                                                 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP enhancements, including conservation tillage, cover

                                                 crops, and pollinator habitat on irrigation pivot corners, have helped the family address

                                                 revenue-negative zones throughout the farm.

                                                 Other 2021 Precision Farmer of the Year Award considerations included:

• Implementing other conservation programs such as EQIP, CSP, and CRP to control erosion, maintain

       soil health through cover crops, practice minimum till, and manage timber lands.

• Utilizing Quail Forever’s precision program to address low productivity acres through upland bird habitat. 

• Using Lasseter Tractor Company service staff and precision ag managers, UGA research extension faculty, multiple crop advisors, and other agribusiness personnel to make informed decisions.

• Planting 17.5 acres of dryland pivot corners with a high-diversity pollinator planting mix, which is helping quail populations while improving ROI throughout entire fields. 

• Future plans for DFF are to continue incorporating biologically diverse areas on non-irrigated corners and field edges, utility rights-of-way, and rotational pasture grazing. Their hopes are to increase carbon sequestration and potentially offer other ecosystem services like increased predatory insects and of course, more wild quail!

 

Trey Davis explained how the use of new technology is helping his family and staff make the best decisions possible on the farm. “These days, farmers need to be businesspeople. The use of John Deere’s Ops Center and Quail Forever’s precision ag analysis on per-acre management has the potential to help our APH (actual production history) over time, lower current risk on investments, and increase biodiversity on the landscape that has ecosystem services to offer future crops.” While these goals are personal, they are also helping the farm address goals set forth by the Cotton Trust Protocol for an

industry-wide effort. 

“The experience Quail Forever has had working with producers in the cotton and

quail range across the Southeast has been great,” said Chaz Holt. “I am very proud

to be working with family farms like the Davis’ to help preserve agricultural legacies

and southern hunting heritage alike. It’s been my pleasure to know and work with

them.”

“Every farmer I know in the south loves the land they have and are proud of the

crops they grow,” stated Bart Davis. “We’ve got a lot better equipment and

technology these days making us better farmers, too good in some cases. There

was a time when quail were everywhere, but some of what they need has been

changed. If a farmer can keep their land and crop while improving bottom lines,

natural resources, and quail populations, we’ll sure give it a try.”

The implementation of precision agriculture by Davis Family Farms, John Deere, Quail Forever, and Pheasants Forever is contributing to Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever’s Call of the Uplands campaign, an ambitious and visionary initiative to conserve America’s uplands and working lands for the next generation.

Learn more at www.CalloftheUplands.org.