Irrigated Pasture and Cropland Sample Clauses

Irrigated Pasture and Cropland. Irrigated pasture is primarily managed to create nesting cover, but may also be managed later in the year to produce short green grazing and loafing habitat during the winter for sandhill cranes and geese. Small grain production croplands are used to produce food and cover. The primary small grain crops grown on Xxxxxx NWR are barley, wheat, safflower, and vetch. No crops are grown on Xxxx NWR. These crops produce high-energy food using little water, and also provide nesting and escape cover in the spring and summer. The advantage of the small grains is that they provide fall green feed and diversity, and can be produced with a minimum of water during a typical mild winter. Water is required in the fall as a pre-irrigation to germinate the seed and to start growth. The plants then grow using naturally occurring winter moisture until spring irrigation is applied to ensure heavy seed production. Optimum management of small grain production fields and irrigated pasture on Xxxxxx NWR requires approximately 3.4 to 3.8 acre-feet of water (X. Xxxxx, 2000).