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4.3 Prime Farmland <br />Revegetation evaluation for Prime Farmland consisted of monitoring the 2014 (Year 2) unit. The <br />2014 Prime Farmland unit comprised approximately 100 acres. The Prime Farmland Reference Area was <br />also evaluated to provide a performance comparison. Because this unit is only in the second growing <br />season, production was not evaluated to adequacy during this interim monitoring effort. However, <br />forage quality calculations based on production evaluations are presented for informational purposes. <br />2014 Unit (Year 2): <br />Sampling on the 2014 Prime Farmland unit consisted of systematic distribution of 15 ground cover <br />transects. A total of 9 plant species were encountered within the 2014 Prime Farmland unit evaluated in <br />2016 (Table 2). Ground cover in the 2014 Prime Farmland unit (Chart 1 and Table 2) consisted of <br />75.33% live vegetation, 0.00% rock, 19.60% litter, and bare ground exposure of 5.07%. Desirable <br />perennial cover across the unit averaged 73.40%, with annual and biennial cover averaging 1.93% <br />absolute cover. Noxious weeds cover was 0.00 % absolute cover. Dominant taxa were alfalfa <br />(Medicago sativa) and wild oat (Avena fatua) with 55.33% and 18.00% average cover, respectively. <br />Total production in the 2014 Prime Farmland unit consisted of 868.6 lbs/ac, while perennial <br />production consisted of 513.3 lbs/ac (Table 3, Chart 3). The relative forage quality based on production <br />was 59.1% alfalfa (Table 4). <br />Prime Farmland Reference Area: <br />Sampling on the Prime Farmland Reference Area consisted of systematic distribution of 15 ground <br />cover transects. A total of 11 plant species were encountered within the Prime Farmland Reference Area <br />evaluated in 2016 (Table 2). Ground cover in the Prime Farmland Reference Area (Table 2 and Charts 1 <br />and 2) consisted of 87.07% live vegetation, 0.00% rock, 7.60% litter, and bare ground exposure of <br />5.33%. Desirable perennial cover across the unit averaged 82.87%, with annual and biennial cover <br />averaging 4.27% absolute cover. Noxious weeds cover was 0.00 % absolute cover. Dominant taxa were <br />alfalfa with 81.27% average cover. <br />Total production in the 2016 Prime Farmland Reference Area consisted of 920.0 lbs/ac, while <br />perennial production consisted of 883.5 lbs/ac (Table 3, Chart 3). <br />10 <br />