The Pheasants Forever Southwest Area Chapter in Dickinson is giving out seed corn to landowners who want to plant wildlife food plots this spring.
The food plots benefit upland wildlife such as pheasants in the area.
The PF national Web site states creating great pheasant habitat is an incentive for those with Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land who can get annual payments for 10-15 year contracts.
The PF chapter distributes the seed corn to landowners who are willing to leave a wildlife food plot through the winter.
"It's easy to seed wheat on CRP land, but wheat doesn't help with wildlife. So we are trying to get the word out on seed like sorghum, sunflowers and corn to benefit wildlife," Southwest Area PF Chapter President Jeff Anderson said. "Last year, we gave out enough (seed) for 300 acres."
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The Southwest PF Chapter has been distributing seed for food plots since its inception in 1986 which was four years after the national organization started.
"This is the time of year to plant food plots," Anderson said. "We're giving out about the same as last year so far, but there's so many more out there that can benefit from this. We have enough seed for 400 acres right now and we can always get more."
The chapter gets seed from the DeKalb Seed Company, which is a sponsor, and it can buy seed from Southwest Grain.
The Southwest PF Chapter currently has 240 members in Stark County. Every fall they have a fundraising banquet to support its various projects throughout the year.
"Right now we are trying to do a large project at Patterson Lake with reseeding grass and food plots for pheasants and any upland animals," Anderson said. "People enjoy pheasant hunting and there are tourist dollars connected to having people from all over the country come to hunt."
Anderson has his own food plots to continually grow the pheasant population around his land.
"Fifteen years ago I didn't have any pheasants and now there is a good supply of them thanks to food plots and providing good nesting grass," Anderson said. "You want tall and intermediate grass types for nesting. A rule is if you can roll a basketball in a field 30-feet away and you can still see it, pheasants won't nest there."
Most landowners are knowledgeable of the locations where pheasants gather during the winter months and planning a food plot close by benefits the birds in the area, he added.
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"The best food plots are designed to provide food for birds during the period of January through March. When food is available at this time, the pheasant hens will be in good shape for the reproductive season in the spring," PF regional wildlife biologist Dan Hare said in a press release. "When hens are ready to nest, their body fat should be fairly high as they will use a lot of energy to incubate the eggs."
Winter survival is a key element for retaining pheasant populations. When birds are able to survive the winter, the reproductive potential is there for another good year of producing chicks.
Good winter cover, food plots and good nesting habitat dictate the population available in the fall. Food made available close to winter habitat allows birds to get what they need close to their winter cover.
Jeff Fields, owner of Fields of Pheasants Outfitters, knows the advantages and has seen a significant increase in the pheasant population from putting out food plots.
Fields accommodates out-of-state hunters, hosts them in a lodge and takes them to land he has in several areas of the region to hunt pheasants. Some of his land is CRP acres. He lives southeast of Dickinson a few miles from the airport.
"Over the last three years, the population has definitely grown. It's unreal in our area," Fields said. "The population has increased 140-150 percent over the last three years and each year I've seen a 60-70 percent increase. The birds thrive on the corn and sorghum I get from the Pheasants Forever organization for food plots."
The pheasant hunting business is a main income for Fields these days and he is grateful to Pheasants Forever's provision of food plots.
