The Quail Conservation Collaboration

New Collaboration Focused on Helping Raise Funds for Quail Habitat Conservation

Saint Paul, Minn. (March 20, 2006) — Quail Forever (QF) announces a new collaboration with Monsanto that will help QF and two other quail conservation groups to protect and enhance quail habitats. As part of the agreement, Monsanto will donate $75,000 annually for three years to QF and a conservation collaboration that includes Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, and the Southeast Quail Study Group. QF will administer the collaboration being called The Quail Conservation Collaboration.

"As a company with a base in agriculture, we and our farmer customers are committed to being good stewards of the environment and making sure we engage in programs that help sustain our natural resources, including wildlife," says Ernesto Fajardo, U.S. Crop Production Lead for Monsanto. "We've had a long relationship in supporting Quail Forever's parent organization, Pheasants Forever, and we look forward to extending our conservation efforts to quail habitat restoration and preservation."

In addition to the annual $75,000 donation, for every gallon of Monsanto's Roundup WeatherMAX or Roundup Original MAX purchased for use on eligible conservation acres, Monsanto will donate $1.00 to the Quail Conservation Collaboration (QCC) in the name of the farmer who purchased the product. The Roundup products must be used for specific projects in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), including CP 1, CP 10, or CP 33 projects. All three practices are focused on improving habitat for the bobwhite quail. Combined, they account for 2.75 million acres eligible for Monsanto's dollar donation fundraising program.

The Monsanto donation will be made upon customer's completion of an enrollment form that includes a copy of their Roundup purchase invoice. Forms are available in the accompanying literature or by visiting www.monsantoquailconservation.com or calling 1-800-ROUNDUP or Quail Forever at 1-866-457-8245 to request one. All forms and receipts should be sent to Quail Forever's national headquarters at:

Quail Forever
QCP Form
1783 Buerkle Circle
Saint Paul, MN 55110

Burdette Erhardt, habitat chairman of the Butler County, Ohio, Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever chapter, urges his fellow farmers to participate in the Roundup program. "The goal of the program is simple – it creates more habitat for precious wildlife," he says. "Monsanto's donation helps just that much more. Every little bit counts."

The U.S.'s bobwhite quail populations are in trouble. Bobwhite population losses over the past 25 years range from 60 to 90 percent across the country. The reason for the quail population plunge is simple - massive losses of habitat suitable for quail. There are five major factors leading to the losses of quail habitat; intensified farming practices, intensified forestry practices, succession of grassland ecosystems to forests, overwhelming presence of exotic grasses like fescue that choke out wildlife, and urban sprawl. The Quail Conservation Collaboration partners are dedicated to addressing these habitat losses to recover the U.S.'s quail populations to their 1980s levels.

"Through this innovative new partnership, farmers, ranchers, and landowners concerned about quail can make a real difference to the bird's future," reported Quail Forever's President and Chief Executive Officer Howard Vincent. "Please take the time to fill out the enrollment form and send them in. Your donation of time will be matched with Monsanto's generous cash donations that will help ensure the next generation's ability to enjoy the bobwhite's call."

The Partners

  • Monsanto Company: A leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality.

  • Quail Forever: A non-profit conservation organization made up of locally-based chapters dedicated to improving quail habitat through national conservation leadership and local habitat results. A division of Pheasants Forever.

  • Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy: A non-profit research and conservation organization whose primary research focus is northern bobwhite management and the use of prescribed fire in natural resource management in the southeastern coastal plain.

  • The Southeast Quail Study Group: A technical group of state, federal, private and academic wildlife managers representing the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The SEQSG produced the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI), a landscape-scale road map for recovering quail populations to their 1980 levels.


Always read and follow pesticide label directions. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® agricultural herbicides. Roundup agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Roundup®, Roundup Original MAX®, Roundup®, Roundup Ready® and Roundup WeatherMAX® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. ©2007 Monsanto Company.