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Farmers can earn $10,000 in Cooperative Dove Field Program

Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources

Farmers can earn extra money and support Kentucky’s hunting heritage by participating in the Cooperative Dove Field Program offered by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The program leases privately owned and managed fields for public dove hunting in the fall.

Enrollment is open through March 10, 2020.

“This creative program gives our farmers an additional income opportunity, and enables a safe and successful hunting season for many Kentucky families in the fall,” said Gov. Andy Beshear.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is particularly interested in landowners willing to sow multiple crops.

“Landowners can earn up to $10,000 in the Cooperative Dove Field Program,” Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Migratory Bird Program Biologist Wes Little said. “They earn $300 per acre planted.”

“We want farmers to sow wheat, millet, corn and sunflowers,” Little said. “Multiple crops are best because if you have a failure of one crop, you still have three others to attract doves.”

Planting the same crop on the same plot for consecutive years leaches nutrients from the soil, leading to poor soil health.

“We are looking for productivity,” Little said. “Adding crop rotation into the mix helps.”

Participating fields must be at least 10 acres. Additional lease payments are available for landowners who plant borders around the hunting fields.

“The dove field leases generally run from 20 to 30 acres in size,” Little said. “We want to concentrate on landowners with a lot of dove hunting potential on their lands.”

Payment amounts can vary based on the number of acres enrolled, crop type and fulfillment of the field management agreement with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.

“We are also looking for silage or hemp fields to lease for dove hunting, up to $1,000 per lease,” Little said.

Biologists with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife must make a determination if a field has sufficient numbers of birds and adequate public access to justify a lease.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is interested in reaching agreements with property owners who have acreage in underserved areas that have significant numbers of dove hunters. In the western part of the state, this includes Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Daviess, Fulton, Grayson, Hardin, Hart, Hickman, LaRue, Logan, Lyon, Simpson, Todd and Trigg counties. Boyle, Cumberland, Laurel, Lincoln, Pulaski and Wayne counties are areas of interest in southcentral Kentucky.

The department also is interested in counties near urban centers with populations greater than 20,000 for the program. To get the process started, landowners must contact their Kentucky Fish and Wildlife private lands biologist or Natural Resources Conservation Service liaison.

For a listing of biologists, visit the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife homepage at http://fw.ky.gov and search the keywords, “private lands biologist.”

For more information, call 1-800-858-1549 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern).

(provided by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife)

Paul Hitchcock earned his Masters in Communications from Morehead State University and Bachelors in Radio-TV/Psychology from Georgetown College. A veteran broadcaster for more than 40 years and an avid fan of blues, jazz and American roots music. Hitchcock has been with WMKY since 1986 and was named General Manager in 2003. He currently hosts "Muddy Bottom Blues" (Fri., 8pm-9pm), "Nothin' But The Blues" (Sat., 8pm-12am), "Sunday Night Jazz Showcase" and "Live From The Jazz Lounge" (Sun., 8pm-9pm) and "The Golden Age of Radio" (Sun., 2pm-3pm). He also serves as producer for "A Time For Tales" and "The Reader's Notebook."
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