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That is awesome, looks great, keep us posted on the progress. Are you planning on mowing a few times this year?

Flooding has been pretty brutal this year. 100%. We have been lucky with several good winters and dry springs recently. This spring has been a whole different ballgame for Iowa. I think brood surveys in August will show a huge decline.

There are birds to be had on Iowa public, but you've really got to work for them. Hunting pressure has probably more than tripled over the past few years, and with the lack of public ground in the state, it's hard to find pieces of ground that aren't getting hunted nearly every day. Even private...

Did the recent rains impact your farm at all remy?

That's a great problem to have - feel free to send some of them over here to Eastern Iowa!

Most hayfields are probably as good or better nesting than the majority of CRP acres. Trouble is most nests don't ever get a chance to hatch due to haying. Here in NE Iowa heavy rain kept farmers off the hayfields until recently, probably a week or two later than normal for the first cutting...

Update: Most of the trees are looking very good after the wet spring. Will be a handful of trees we need to replace in the Fall. Clover between rows looking great.

Figured it was about time to start the annual brood sightings report thread. Haven't seen or heard of any reports here yet in Eastern Iowa, will probably be at least a week or two. Been a tough Spring so far with tons of rain and lots of flooding. Anyone else seeing or hearing any reports of...

On public lands, cattails early season can be very fruitful in my experience. Whether or not they want to be in there relative to other areas, I'm not sure, but that tends to be where other hunters aren't when its warm early season, and where the hunters aren't, the birds are. Agree with Golden...

Yes, there is a creek that is very prone to flooding running through. On one hand, that's how we got the ground for the price we did, but will generally be the limiting factor. About 40 of the 170 acres is dry. Good thing hens are pretty resilient nesters.

Unfortunately, most of our recently planted food plots and a good deal of our CRP is flooded. Pics below:

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. As much as we "like" to see certain species of grasses and forbes, I don't think the birds care near as much as we do. Some of my best hunting has been in big fields of almost nothing buy giant ragweed. Ugly, yes, but great habitat, absolutely. We get plenty of...

Well, we had a good Spring in our neck of the woods for a couple of weeks. Pretty significant flooding here in Eastern Iowa today and a good chunk of our farms CRP acres are underwater unfortunately. Hopefully things dry up and we get some decent weather for a successful second attempt for our hens!

That is exactly what I would like to create. Even some thistles and stuff, while not ideal, have to be better that dense, sod bound grasses.

I am thinking maybe a few passes deep, and then one or two light passes over the top to smooth it out some might help? I just can't help but think the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Even if its just a few 30-40 yard strips here and there. Our cover is DENSE. I can't imagine chicks being able...

One last concern to add to the list.. turning smooth walking ground into really rough ground. How would one go about "leveling" off the ground after disking so it is not such an ankle breaker to walk through?

Probably belongs in the Habitat Forum, but seems like posts get more eyeballs in the general forum. My question is regarding strip disking. Has this practice been utilized by any on their farms or acres under their management to improve the habitat quality on existing CRP acres for...

It has been a good spring so far this year indeed. Hoping to get out there tomorrow and check on things!

We abide by the 1/3 rule on our property. Takes a bit more work on the burning, but well worth it IMO. I think everything with habitat comes down to diversity, and having 3 sections of a field that are perpetually in 3 different stages of succession can only help with nests initiation, survival...

Update: got out and seeded a mix of clovers and alfalfa between all the rows and 30ft around the perimeter of the whole planting. Hoping it will double as a good firebreak as well as excellent brood-rearing and help keep weed pressure down. Also seeded about 1/2 acre of pure cave-rock switch...