Cropfield Buffers

Edge-of-field buffers in crop fields can be planted to meet a number of landowner objectives. The landowner may want to increase profits by taking margins of the field that may be eroded or sapped by adjacent trees out of production.

Many landowners install pollinator and quail plantings along the edges of fields. For wildlife objectives the wider the buffer the better. The USDA and other organizations offer opportunities for cost-share and other payments to install these buffers.

Economics

The links below direct you to additional helpful resources and documents.

• Field Borders for Agronomic, Economic, and Wildlife Benefits | MU Extension (External Link)

• Establishing Cover Crops, Refugia, and Field Borders Adjacent to Crop Fields | MU Extension (External Link)

• Precision conservation offers an alternative to traditional farming, Mississippi State University Extension Service (External Link)

• The Continuous CRP CP 43 Practice Prairie Strips offers an alternative to traditional terraces

        Prairie Strips - Missouri Prairie Foundation

Research

The links below direct you to websites or documents that are available for download or viewing in Word or PDF format.

• Wildlife-friendly farming increases crop yield: evidence for ecological intensification.

• Agricultural landscape features can mitigate field-edge yield declines: Insights from yieldmonitors and remote sensing data.

• Economic Impact of Conservation Field Borders on Farm Operations 2002 Wheat Cover

• (PDF) Herbaceous Field Borders Have Minor Impact on Corn Yield

• (12) Effects of Set-aside Conservation Practices on Bird Community Structure within an Intensive Agricultural Landscape

• (12) Assessing Multiregion Avian Benefits from Strategically Targeted Agricultural Buffers
  

Training

Economics of Natives https://youtu.be/0ShKGaiC7AE?si=A4TqqUa5h0dYfr4J