Quail Forever Announces Davis Family Farm as 2021 Precision Farmer of the Year Award Recipient

Quail Forever’s 2021 Precision Farmer of the Year Award, sponsored by John Deere, is being presented to the Davis Family Farm (DFF) in Colquitt County, Georgia. The annual award recognizes the innovative use of precision ag technology and utilization of data to identify profitable solutions for agriculture and wildlife on working lands throughout America.

Bart and Paula Davis, along with their three children - sons Trey and Jedd, and daughter Lakyn - have made DFF a true family business focused on implementation of sustainable farming practices. Their agricultural operations, which include registered beef cattle in addition to cotton, peanut, winter wheat, oat hay, sorghum hay and corn production, are centered on the adoption of precision ag technology and the use of expert resources to improve efficiency, profitability, and wildlife resources across each acre. Employing 15 farm staff ranging from field equipment crews to on-farm data analysts, DFF offers a visionary approach for growing delicious beef, healthy crops, and bountiful wildlife.  
 
Chaz Holt, Quail Forever’s precision ag and conservationist specialist, worked closely with DFF to help enroll 1,274 acres into the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP enhancements including conservation tillage, cover crops, and pollinator habitat on irrigation pivot corners have helped the family address revenue-negative zones throughout the farm. Other 2021 Precision Farmer of the Year Award considerations included:
 
  • Implementing other conservation programs such as EQIP, CSP, and CRP to control erosion, maintain soil health through cover crops, practice minimum till, and manage timber lands.
  • Utilizing Quail Forever’s precision program to address low productivity acres through upland bird habitat.
  • Using Lasseter Tractor Company service staff and precision ag managers, UGA research extension faculty, multiple crop advisors, and other agribusiness personnel to make informed decisions.
  • Planting 17.5 acres of dryland pivot corners with a high-diversity pollinator planting mix which is helping quail populations while improving ROI throughout entire fields.
  • Future plans for DFF are to continue incorporating biologically diverse areas on non-irrigated corners and field edges, utility rights-of-way, and rotational pasture grazing. Their hopes are to increase carbon sequestration and potentially offer other ecosystem services like increased predatory insects and of course, more wild quail!
 
Trey Davis explained how the use of new technology is helping his family and staff make the best decisions possible on the farm. “These days, farmers need to be businesspeople. The use of John Deere’s Ops Center and Quail Forever’s precision ag analysis on per-acre management has the potential to help our APH (actual production history) over time, lower current risk on investments, and increase biodiversity on the landscape that has ecosystem services to offer future crops.” While these goals are personal, they are also helping the farm address goals set forth by the Cotton Trust Protocol (https://trustuscotton.org/) for an industry-wide effort.

“The experience Quail Forever has had working with producers in the cotton and quail range across the Southeast has been great,” said Chaz Holt. “I am very proud to be working with family farms like the Davis’ to help preserve agricultural legacies and southern hunting heritage alike. It’s been my pleasure to know and work with them.”

“Every farmer I know in the south loves the land they have and are proud of the crops they grow,” stated Bart Davis. “We’ve got a lot better equipment and technology these days making us better farmers, too good in some cases. There was a time when quail were everywhere, but some of what they need has been changed. If a farmer can keep their land and crop while improving bottom lines, natural resources, and quail populations, we’ll sure give it a try.”

The implementation of precision agriculture by Davis Family Farm, John Deere, and Quail Forever is contributing to Quail Forever’s Call of the Uplands campaign, an ambitious and visionary initiative to conserve America’s uplands and working lands for the next generation. Learn more at www.CalloftheUplands.org

About Quail Forever
Quail Forever is a leading organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation efforts for the United States’ native quail species. Since its creation in 2005, Quail Forever has conducted more than 16,000 habitat projects across the nation benefitting quail and other wildlife. Along with its affiliate organization Pheasants Forever, it has committed more than $975 million to improve more than 20 million acres of wildlife habitat. Quail Forever has more than 17,000 members and 180 local chapters across the country. Both Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever are part of Pheasants Forever, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit.  

Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@quailforever.org