Combining Crop Diversity with Wildlife Habitat

Blair Voelz, new chairman of the YCRCD board, has been farming in Yolo County for close to 30 years. He first became interested in serving on the RCD board after attending a Farm Conservation Planning workshop in 2004, which ultimately resulted in the installation of a number of beneficial practices on his newly planted Antelope Hill Vineyard, with the assistance of EQIP funding, and a great three -way partnership between grower, NRCS and the RCD.

The 110 acre vineyard site in the Dunnigan foothills northwest of Woodland is adjacent to the steep, deeply cut banks of Bird Creek. Blair installed a mix of grasses over the entire vineyard floor, with field borders using various clovers. The field borders double as vineyard roads, minimizing bare ground and enhancing water infiltration. Blair has planted large areas for wildlife habitat with native grasses, trees and shrubs adjacent to the vineyard and bordering Bird Creek, which prevent further erosion along the creek banks. A hedgerow of native plants was also planted along another edge of the vineyard that leads to a new pond, which serves as a back-up reservoir for irrigation, as well as a resource for wildlife.

Blair’s primary farming operation is in the lowlands near the Colusa County line where he grows seed crops (watermelon, cucumber, squash, carrots, parsley, onions and habanero) and several varieties of rice. This land was first farmed by his wife’s father, grandfather and great grandfather, and Blair’s son, Eli, has recently joined him in the continuation of the family operation.  On the day I visited, they had recently harvested watermelon for seed, after which they tilled once more to remove most of the vine material, some weeds and then plant wheat. This low-till approach leaves foraging habitat for Swainson’s hawks that feed on field mice hiding within the field stubble.

For Blair, the benefits of low-till include the reduction in labor and fuel costs, improved air quality, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. When Blair traveled to Argentina in 2004, one of the first things he noticed was how clean the air was. Close to 50% of Argentina’s cropland is in no-till, compared to about 20% in the U.S. and only 2% in California. 

On his rice ground, Blair has had success with aerial seeding of bell beans as cover crops, which he says have produced a more friable soil and an improved rice stand, with a 5% to 10% increase in yield. Blair has seen two-foot bell bean growth on the rice ground, resulting in an additional 20 to 30 lbs. of nitrogen per acre. The costs of this practice include the extra labor necessary to incorporate the crop residue, and the difficulty in realizing long-term benefits of this management technique from short-term land leases. 

A tour through Blair’s 200 acres of  rice cropland is a bird-watchers dream. Driving along the fields, Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets flush from the rice stands, and fly slowly ahead about every 100 feet. His rice fields border a canal to the east that runs south all the way to the Cache Creek Settling Basin. Several other rice growers adjacent to the canal provide habitat and form an important corridor for wildlife, particularly birds. Although rice requires a significant amount of water, it also functions as a natural filter to improve water quality, additionally providing prime seasonal habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds and raptors.  The technique of post-harvest flooding and cage-rolling rice straw creates valuable seasonal wetlands for the migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway, and creates a condition that promotes the quick decomposition of the straw and stubble.  Blair’s rice farmland is particularly rich habitat because of an additional 40 acres that is an alkali flat that he has taken out of production to let “go native” with volunteer willow, tule, sedges, rushes and native grasses, and provide habitat for resident deer, coyote, game birds, reptiles, and beneficial insects. Rice farmers in the past had been given a negative reputation due to the old practice of straw-burning, but currently, by practicing post-harvest field flooding, they are creating much-needed wetlands and contributing to sustainable, wildlife-friendly production.

When asked for his “take-home lesson”, Blair smiled and said “diversity” and the willingness to continue learning. Blair is obviously well-suited to this challenge and a look around his fields shows he’s succeeding in balancing the tough economics of farming while simultaneously improving conditions for wildlife.
  

Article by Diane Crumley for the Yolo County RCD "Conservation Quarterly", Volume 11, Issue 1, Spring 2007.