Wildlife Habitat Federation
Helping Texas Landowners Restore Native Habitat For Wildlife
Harvesting Native Prairie Seeds
It's all about the seeds!
Every fall, WHF personnel drive the back roads of Cat Spring, Texas and beyond, searching for relict tracts of land, untouched for many years, that harbor naturally occurring native prairie plant species. These rapidly disappearing native pastures hold the key to the sustainability of native prairie habitat for us. These plants contain germplasm that is adapted specifically to survive in our region.
Restored native prairie tracts that have been planted with locally harvested seed, and that have established themselves over several years, are also candidates for harvest. This is a consideration for landowners who are committed to perpetuating their native prairie habitat.
Income for landowners
Aside from the reward of looking out over a beautiful wildlife habitat, landowners are able to receive income either from land leases or from payment for the seed harvested by WHF. The type of harvest and the specific situation will determine the means.
If you have such a pasture or know of someone who has one, please
contact us.
The Harvest
When the harvester hopper is full, the native seeds are emptied into a peanut wagon.
Little Bluestem harvest using a WHF tractor with a Seedster Native Seed Harvester on the front end loader. This piece of equipment is specially designed to handle fluffy native seeds.
For tighter areas, WHF uses a small tractor pulling a 5-foot harvester.
The 4 peanut wagons in the background store the seed during drying and until it is ready to load into bags.
After drying, the seed is loaded into large bags and placed on a trailer that will transport them to the processor.