Farming for Habitat: Farm Bill Programs Bolster Habitat for Wild Turkeys

Renewed and updated every five years, the Farm Bill is a package of federal legislation with many far-reaching benefits, from helping rural farmers to conserving critical natural resources.

Over the years, the NWTF and its partners have worked with Congress to ensure programs funded through the Farm Bill continue to help conserve America’s vital natural resources, programs varying from sustainable forestry initiatives to providing wild turkeys habitat for their annual cycle needs on private lands.

While the NWTF can collaborate with federal and state agencies to increase wild turkey habitat on public lands, such as in national forests or state-owned game lands, programs funded through the Farm Bill provide a vital gateway that allows the NWTF to increase wild turkey habitat on privately owned land. Additionally, the Farm Bill provides funding for both technical assistance and financial assistance to landowners who are interested in implementing practices beneficial for wildlife.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program, known more commonly as EQIP, is an excellent example of how programs funded through the Farm Bill help private landowners integrate wild turkey habitat management practices into their working lands. 

Administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, EQIP provides landowners with technical and financial assistance to enhance wild turkey habitat while addressing other conservation challenges, such as improving water quality, increasing soil health and minimizing the effects of drought. 

“The NWTF has numerous agreements with the NRCS that help us create essential wild turkey habitat on private lands,” said Doug Little, NWTF director of conservation operations for the East. “For instance, cooperative foresters funded by the NWTF and NRCS work with private landowners to enroll them in programs like EQIP. This allows foresters to create in-depth management plans tailored to the landowner’s property and working-land goals, such as managing forested acres for wildlife habitat and timber value.”

EQIP management plans for private landowners vary, as they are specific to each landowner’s property and land features; however, they often include eradicating invasive species, creating wildlife openings, improving the flow of creeks and rivers, opening up forested understories and more. 

And while wild turkeys across the country benefit from EQIP, the program is one of numerous private land programs that help wild turkeys and our nation’s natural resources. Like EQIP, the Conservation Reserve Program is funded through the Farm Bill and incentivizes landowners to increase conservation efforts on their lands.

For an annual rental payment, farmers enrolled in CRP agree to remove marginally productive and/or highly erodible land from agricultural production and create landscapes that improve environmental health and quality. The program’s long-term goal is to re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and reduce loss of wildlife habitat. 

“CRP is a robust program that really benefits wildlife in every facet,” said Jared McJunkin, NWTF director of conservation operations Central. “CRP encompasses both forested acres and grasslands with the intent of establishing and maintaining permanent cover that addresses soil erosion and increases the overall health of water, air and wildlife species. Wild turkeys directly benefit from grasslands enrolled in CRP for nesting and, at times, brood-rearing habitat. Also, some CRP practices are directly aimed at improving riparian areas, which provide critical roosting habitat in some of our more grassland-rich states.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently stated that the Farm Service Agency issued more than $1.77 billion this year to agricultural producers and landowners for participating in CRP in 2023. This included payments to more than 667,000 participants for more than 23 million acres enrolled in the program.

Like EQIP and CRP, many programs are funded via the Farm Bill that benefit private landowners, wildlife and the conservation of our natural resources and is why the Farm Bill is critically important to the NWTF. Wild turkeys don’t know boundaries, nor should conservation.

If you are a private landowner and are interested in learning more about these programs, visit https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/find-a-service-center.

Go to Farming4Habitat.org to learn more information on Farm Bill programs that benefit fish and wildlife.