Formulation of an Optimum Winter Food-Patch Mix for Bobwhite Quail

Abstract

Many state game agencies are seeking to improve winter quail food and habitat by means of artificial food-patch plantings. The objective of such plantings is to increase the limited supplies of nutrients available to quail in late winter. Desirable qualities of food species included in the seeding mixture are: low seeding cost, high nutrient and energy content, persistent seeds, and cultivation ease. Presently used mixtures have been formulated in the absence of detailed nutritional analysis and cost-minimization techniques. This paper seeks to demonstrate the utility of modern operations-research technology in such decisions by outlining the procedures for determining the composition of an optimum food-patch mix. This mix will meet nutrient and cultivation requirements at a least-possible cost per acre of food planting. Although a solution is presented, the emphasis of the paper is on the method for obtaining such a solution.