New habitat

SDJIM

New member
Our renter has informed us that they no longer wish to rent the pasture and our decision is to just not rent it to anyone. This will add 103 acres to habitat on the farm. The acres are next to a 2 yr old 75 acre CRP plot. It has never been plowed. Buffalo wallows are still apparent and is native grass and some brome. Think I will let it grow for a couple of years and just do some weed control as needed. :)

SD Jim
 
How many animals did the renter have on it ?

The DNR around here do some grazing on their acres. If a person put maybe 25 pair on 108 acres it might actually be better for nesting than uncontrolled growth. Another possibility might be to make a late hay cutting on some of it.

Patchy growth is very favorable for wildlife.
 
Our renter has informed us that they no longer wish to rent the pasture and our decision is to just not rent it to anyone. This will add 103 acres to habitat on the farm. The acres are next to a 2 yr old 75 acre CRP plot. It has never been plowed. Buffalo wallows are still apparent and is native grass and some brome. Think I will let it grow for a couple of years and just do some weed control as needed. :)

SD Jim

Hey SDJIM, do you have any wild partridge on your property? Ours in NE SD have disappeared, wondering has the habitat changed to the point where partridge can't make it here or if there is some other reason. SDViking
 
Where pheasants thrive most in lower plant successional communities and those plants thrive only with periodic use of fire and grazing, your pasture will only remain "quality" habitat for a short time without some kind of disturbance. Much of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas are suffering from the lack of historic management. Invasive species like Osage orange, locust, cedar, Siberian elm and many others quickly invade "over-rested" grasslands and end up quite costly to remove once they get past a certain stage. I encourage you to be mindful of those natural tendencies and continue to inject both of those "natural" grassland management needs. By all means, they are not needed annually, but periodic implementation of those management needs will keep your slice of heaven in tip top shape!
 
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Our renter has informed us that they no longer wish to rent the pasture and our decision is to just not rent it to anyone. This will add 103 acres to habitat on the farm. The acres are next to a 2 yr old 75 acre CRP plot. It has never been plowed. Buffalo wallows are still apparent and is native grass and some brome. Think I will let it grow for a couple of years and just do some weed control as needed. :)

SD Jim

Good for you Jim. :thumbsup:
 
Where pheasants thrive most in lower plant successional communities and those plants thrive only with periodic use of fire and grazing, your pasture will only remain "quality" habitat for a short time without some kind of disturbance. Much of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas are suffering from the lack of historic management. Invasive species like Osage orange, locust, cedar, Siberian elm and many others quickly invade "over-rested" grasslands and end up quite costly to remove once they get past a certain stage. I encourage you to be mindful of those natural tendencies and continue to inject both of those "natural" grassland management needs. By all means, they are not needed annually, but periodic implementation of those management needs will keep your slice of heaven in tip top shape!

I am not a farmer but I've got a little better at it and now it is grazing and how to manage grasslands. Fire is not really an option due to the local near by airport and it is adjacent to a very busy highway. There are lots of questions and I hope that I can work it out as the potential for large tract (320 acres) of pheasant habitat is out there----I've just got to pull it together.

Time to start reading and talking to people ---any suggestions out there? :cheers:
 
I am not a farmer but I've got a little better at it and now it is grazing and how to manage grasslands. Fire is not really an option due to the local near by airport and it is adjacent to a very busy highway. There are lots of questions and I hope that I can work it out as the potential for large tract (320 acres) of pheasant habitat is out there----I've just got to pull it together.

Time to start reading and talking to people ---any suggestions out there? :cheers:

Hi Jim,
Grazing can help a lot. My suggestion would be a lot of cattle for a short period of time. Do this at different times of the year, early one year late the next then maybe mid summer the next. Good luck.
 
Hey SDJIM, do you have any wild partridge on your property? Ours in NE SD have disappeared, wondering has the habitat changed to the point where partridge can't make it here or if there is some other reason. SDViking

Have had partridge in very limited numbers ----but sadly have not seen any in 5 yrs or so. Last one I saw in South Dakota was on the Grand River National Grasslands west of Bison. :(
 
Jim, you're at it again! A true friend to the wildlife.:10sign:
 
Jim, you're at it again! A true friend to the wildlife.:10sign:


I try--some times it seems to much--but not really as it brings me so much pleasure.

I have had my eye on this pasture for years but it's hard to give up $6000 a year in rent--- still it will be a great for the wildlife :thumbsup:
 
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