Just returned from our annual S.D. pheasant hunt.(26 year's, and counting). When we arrived at my friend's farm my jaw just about hit the ground after seeing our favorite slough filled in, and cropped over. Not only have we shot, and seen 100's of bird's in there over the year's, but it was a mix of tall grass, cattail's, tree's, and water providing great habitat. I totally get my friend has to do what's best for them. I'm but a guest for 5 to 10 day's a year. We moved on to some crep area's that proved to be awesome, and held numerous rooster's, and a few hen's. We both suffered from a serious case of missitis on this trip, but nothing can beat watching your dog, walking the field's, and catching up with old friend's. All in all a great trip!
Shocked, but still awed.
- Thread starter jeffslabs
- Start date
small munsterlander owner
Banned
best for u friend means plant & destroy that slough how sad im sure everybody just let it go he a friend... what a bummer... be worse if it was public land... happy u still found birds...
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gunflint charlie
Member
My group saw the same a few years ago north of Miller on private land we hunted for a few years. There were a few cattail potholes of several acres each, with brushy patches 8-10 feet high scattered along the edges, that consistently held birds and provided winter cover. After a prolonged dry spell we found were stunned to find they were no more, the brush was all torn out, the ground plowed and planted. Very discouraging to see this.
Jay
Jay
benelli-banger
Well-known member
I've been hunting the same area for 23 years; I have seen this trend as well. Painful, yes; a function of greed, maybe...I say maybe, because I know many farm families that now have a younger family member joining the operation, sometimes involving a wife and kids. Rent is now over $200/acre where we are in SD, and buying land means forking over $4,000/+ per acre. Oh, crop prices are a lot less than 2-3 years ago as well....I cry when I see a tree belt, slough, CRP field, etc that has been removed...but I also know that in many cases there is another family to support that wasn't in the mix in the past.
Kismet
UPH Guru
Yeah, I agree. The cost of owning land, maintaining land; buying and storing, using and fixing equipment; family costs of living, eating, educating the young; fuel prices and reduced crop prices; and the very real possibility of not having any retirement program to supplement your own savings...all make for a constant pressure on maintaining and, if possible, increasing your return on investment.
Not "greed" perhaps, but "need."
All things change, regardless of how we want life to be.
Glad you found some birds. :thumbsup:
small munsterlander owner
Banned
these same guys are called stewarts of the land etc. i find it really hard to beleave 1 slough will make or break there banks???
i see huge wood islands being bulldozed & planted there i can see $$$ being a factor... some of these guys just cant stand to see a slough wear corn can be planted etc.
what happened to farm the best land leave the rest??? but it not there fault lol i feel for small family farms but they are all but gone once next generation roll around i fear...
i see huge wood islands being bulldozed & planted there i can see $$$ being a factor... some of these guys just cant stand to see a slough wear corn can be planted etc.
what happened to farm the best land leave the rest??? but it not there fault lol i feel for small family farms but they are all but gone once next generation roll around i fear...
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benelli-banger
Well-known member
certainly there is some greed in the trend we are talking about...but not all. If you start adding up a few acres here, a few there, you may end up with another 40, 80 or more that can be farmed....I am not in support of this, but I have a hard time being critical of what others do with their own property. Very easy to cast aspersions from 400 miles away, living in the suburbs, while I know exactly what some farmer should be doing with HIS property! A young farmer that is now about 24 or 25 offered up a new food plot that he planted this spring on some of his rented ground (from grandpa)...it was full of birds!!! he later told me it was for me and my gang of guys, as we had started taking him with us hunting when he was 9 or 10...his dad is not a hunter, and was always busy with harvest back then...the kid assured me that he must have been a pain in the rear, and he really appreciated it....i was quite floored by this!!!! If you don't value wildlife, you won't value a tree belt, a slough, a buffer strip, etc....the USDA/NRCS/FSA should offer $ for some of that stuff...oh, yeah, we're 20 trillion in debt!!!!
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small munsterlander owner
Banned
that 24-25 year old kid with a plot you hunted is not the norm bulldoze & burn & tile is becoming the norm...
i live on same 5acre farm i have my hole life watched all land around me is half-milliin $ homes once its got a house on it its gone
not telling anybody what to do with private land but in recent years people can make up all the sob storys they want to it still come down to farm the best leave the rest. . worse in a non hunting family...
that is why i pump states owning public lands not leaseing private lands we will always have the public land private land will go to highest bidder...
i live on same 5acre farm i have my hole life watched all land around me is half-milliin $ homes once its got a house on it its gone
not telling anybody what to do with private land but in recent years people can make up all the sob storys they want to it still come down to farm the best leave the rest. . worse in a non hunting family...
that is why i pump states owning public lands not leaseing private lands we will always have the public land private land will go to highest bidder...
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KSBrittman
Active member
I have a farmer friend that enjoys to quail hunt , he farm as effeceicnt as he can but I have not seen him take out any upland habitat .
I have seen 2 new metal buildings go up , new truck purchased , new or newer skid steer , bathroom remodeled , kitchen remodeled .
He is doing fine farming the land he has . One of the main reasons for CRP was to raise commodity prices and enhance water quality .
I remember 15 dollar a bushel beans and 4 to 7 a bushel corn . I think the plan was working just fine .
Now corn 3.50 ? And beans below 10 .00
Of all who posted above are members of Pheasants forever or quail forever ?
I have seen 2 new metal buildings go up , new truck purchased , new or newer skid steer , bathroom remodeled , kitchen remodeled .
He is doing fine farming the land he has . One of the main reasons for CRP was to raise commodity prices and enhance water quality .
I remember 15 dollar a bushel beans and 4 to 7 a bushel corn . I think the plan was working just fine .
Now corn 3.50 ? And beans below 10 .00
Of all who posted above are members of Pheasants forever or quail forever ?
benelli-banger
Well-known member
YES, I am...and I enrolled a 1/4 section of land in a permanent conservation easement...can NEVER be developed or farmed...ever.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
I enjoy living in a country where I am free to do what I want, and free to do what I want with my property, provided it's legal. We may disagree with each other, but being free is pretty important to me. "Be a man, hunt public land" sounds pretty good (by the way, I hunt a lot of public land), but what if you and a group of hunters paid a farmer to hunt some marginal land each year (sloughs, tree belts, etc) and it was just enough incentive for him to NOT destroy it in order to farm it? Who's the "man" now??? a lot of hunters stay in motels in nearby towns for $80-100 a night, eat out a few meals each day, drop some money in taverns and bars, etc...If some farmer had an old farmhouse that could be used to bunk in, and you paid a reasonable sum per night which came with some hunting land, perhaps you'd influence his behavior in one way or another??? We pay $100/day, which gives us lodging and land access...not cheap, but cheaper than staying in town and eating out twice a day and sitting in a bar in the evening. If your mantra is to "be a man, hunt public land" what the hell do you care what a private landowner does? Sounds like your dollar would never find its way into his wallet. You could always run for office..."Make American Farms Great Again" could be your campaign slogan...
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small munsterlander owner
Banned
heck no my $$$ would not make my way into his pocket proud of that... maybe my 63 year ol father with medical issues could of shot a bird off the guys ditch b4 it went to a muddy spot in a farm field...??? lol
happy to spend $$$ in a local bar cafe grocier gas station etc.
i also live wear im free to do what i want on my land etc i could sell my place fir big $$$ i understand needing $$$ & its not my lands but what kinda mentality is that to have if we all had that view of its private land dont worry about it wildlife is only going to be on public land for those of us who choose not to pay to play... fast going that route pay me or ill farm it ranch it etc... sad no matter if u hunt private land public land or game farms
i wont post any more mods i dont wanna ruffle any feathers...
happy to spend $$$ in a local bar cafe grocier gas station etc.
i also live wear im free to do what i want on my land etc i could sell my place fir big $$$ i understand needing $$$ & its not my lands but what kinda mentality is that to have if we all had that view of its private land dont worry about it wildlife is only going to be on public land for those of us who choose not to pay to play... fast going that route pay me or ill farm it ranch it etc... sad no matter if u hunt private land public land or game farms
i wont post any more mods i dont wanna ruffle any feathers...
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benelli-banger
Well-known member
If what you are doing (or not doing) is working for you, then cheers to that! You have some interesting thoughts...hope you have a good season.
gunflint charlie
Member
I believe the old direct subsidy program had a "swampbuster" provision so payments weren't made for newly planted former wetland acres. If I remember right, the swampbuster rule was at first omitted from the crop insurance program, but later was added to it, so farmers can no longer collect insurance for failed crops on wetland acres that were cultivated for the first time after the rule took effect.
Can someone who knows for sure confirm or clarify this?
Jay
Can someone who knows for sure confirm or clarify this?
Jay
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benelli-banger
Well-known member
Again, not a farmer, but try to reconcile the economics of input prices that have basically been going up for the most part, and crop prices that have fallen by a lot....tell a business owner who is upside down how he SHOULD be running his business, because from our comfy abodes 300-400 miles away in a neighboring state we know wtf we are talking about! I hunt SD 7 times a year, and make it back 2-3 other times for graduations, weddings, etc...I am with farmers every trip, as I host them at the farmhouse where I stay...I listen, I ask questions, I know some who love wildlife, I know some who don't care about wildlife...a town of 150, I try to get along...they are all good folks. No matter what, I bum out when I see habitat disappear...but I know that I am creating demand for habitat by hunting there in the manner that I am...not much of a man, I guess...
KSBrittman
Active member
q
I am glad to hear you are , I became a member and have before quite some time , i decided i better be part of the solution . I have a farmer / Landowner that I have partnered up with to improve habitat on his ground .
It has to make financial sense to him . We just enrolled some ground in buffer strips that made him $5.00 an acre more than he was cash renting it for .
moellermd
Super Moderator
Someone who gets it. Everyone who is saying I can get money from "crop damage" want to explain to me how I can? I don't think they have a good grasp of how the crop insurance program works.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
the county where my land is offered $177/acre for crp this year...and it roiled some of the farmers, as it could take land out of availability for them as far as rentable land is concerned...however, rent is higher than the crp payment, so I doubt many acres made it to crp...but, that is a pretty nice payment!
So it is OK to spend money at the bar, cafe, grocier and gas station. How much do they do for wildlife? But the guy that leaves something, plants some food plots, plants some trees should not get paid. Some how I am missing something.
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