1st CRP Mid-Contract Mgmt coming in 2011

UGUIDE

UGUIDE

Active member
The first CRP I signed up in 2003 did not have any mid contract management conditions but the next years did so that is due now in 2011. Requirement is to clip, bail, destroy (burn).

Since I don't have access to rake or bailer I am going to get permission to control burn.

Plan to mow firebreaks in this fall and other activities in prep for spring burn.

Any suggestions or things to consider?
 
Mow at least a 30-foot fire break. Try to locate an old side delivery rake to clear the break of the clipped grasses, otherwise the fire can move across pretty quickly. If you have not worked on a burn before, try to get assistance from someone who has experience or hire a professional burn crew. FSA will cost share 50% of the burn costs. Also, FSA may allow mid-contract mgt on your 2003 planting, especially if it was a 15-year contract. Get a burning permit if local regs require one and notify you local fire dispatcher/law enforcement before you light the fire.
 
UGUIDE said:
Good advise Grey Fox. Thanks. I am lucky to have a local fire department to work with in the area.
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Indeed you are lucky to have a good local fire department. They burned some of my CRP last year and did a very good job. I might add that you should consider contacting them ahead of time to ask about how big a fire break they would like considering your own situation. I sent a map showing the areas that I wanted burned and I think the fire chief even drove out to see what needed to be done. They then told me where to make the fire breaks and how wide.

If you want cost-share you will need a fire plan, which must be completed by someone who is certified. Pheasants Forever may be able to help with that. After you get the plan you must send it to the fire department, if they are doing the burn, and the FSA Office before you burn.

If you want more excitement in your life, light it up yourself with the help of some friends. Make sure you have plenty of liability insurance in case things get out-of-control. By the way, even if the fire department burns your CRP, you are probably still responsible for damages if the fire goes where it isn't supposed to and a claim is filed.

Also make sure you call the local fire department if you burn it yourself so the fire trucks don't show up unexpectantly from folks calling 911 to report a fire. Prairie fires can be seen from a great distance. Then also make sure that they know if YOU call they should come quickly.

Watch for burning rabbits who may burst from the fire area and inadvertantly start a fire beyond the break. Also you may see a bunch of hawks overhead looking for an easy meal.
 
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landman said:
Watch for burning rabbits who may burst from the fire area and inadvertantly start a fire beyond the break. Also you may see a bunch of hawks overhead looking for an easy meal.
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Landman, excellent adivse and I laughed my U NO What off at the thought of this. Have to have a sniper on perimeter taking out roasted rabbits eliminating the fire spread hazard. I think I read somehwere this is OK with DNR since the critter is "doing damage or about to do damage".

Signing up any new CRP with the new crop years?

I am deep in the planning and having fun with numbers as running into cap issues due to cost of trees in new plans. ARRRGGGHH! CP-37 is looking good though.
 
There are a lot of things to think about. What is the adjoining cover? What will your prevailing wind be? Can you disk fire breaks? What equipment do you have or can you get? Do your neighbors have some to burn too and can you trade labor/equipment needs? Does Pheasants Forever have an equipment trailer available nearby? Does anyone have experience? What neighbors will you need to call? Are there any inherent dangers like oil wells, utilities, houses, pipelines, roads, airports, etc? Who/what are the burn plan requirements? How much help is needed to complete the burn. What livestock are in the area? You also need to know what envirnomental conditions are right to burn. I'm lighting another summer burn tomorrow, wish you were here. The experience would do you good. It's one of those feel things in life. Some people never get the feel. Many threats can be avoided by someone with the feel. Speed of lighting, recognition of a problem before it happens, knowing how to light and what to avoid is important.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
There are a lot of things to think about. What is the adjoining cover? What will your prevailing wind be? Can you disk fire breaks? What equipment do you have or can you get? Do your neighbors have some to burn too and can you trade labor/equipment needs? Does Pheasants Forever have an equipment trailer available nearby? Does anyone have experience? What neighbors will you need to call? Are there any inherent dangers like oil wells, utilities, houses, pipelines, roads, airports, etc? Who/what are the burn plan requirements? How much help is needed to complete the burn. What livestock are in the area? You also need to know what envirnomental conditions are right to burn. I'm lighting another summer burn tomorrow, wish you were here. The experience would do you good. It's one of those feel things in life. Some people never get the feel. Many threats can be avoided by someone with the feel. Speed of lighting, recognition of a problem before it happens, knowing how to light and what to avoid is important.
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Holy snikeys PD my head is spinning!
 
If you haven't had the training or any experience, it will be better to pass it to someone that has. Small burns with no bordering hazards or fuel, you might get by. Much to know and the little things can kill you.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
If you haven't had the training or any experience, it will be better to pass it to someone that has. Small burns with no bordering hazards or fuel, you might get by. Much to know and the little things can kill you.
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Everything I got is in small chucks right now.

7.6ac
7ac
18ac
4ac

But....will have

30ac
40ac
56ac
40ac
in 2016. Still all squares and surrounded mostly by cropland.
 
You're a little late to plan your rotation on the crops to aid your burns, but you can look at what you've got and see if that helps in pulling off any of these burns. Burning into brown crops isn't good. Burning into or backing off of green crops can surely help. We did a 65 acre pasture plot and 3 smaller ones that added up to 45 acres today. The large one took less than 2 hours, the other three about a total of 3 hours. That is with almost all disked fire breaks and 5 guys. We had 3 sprayers and 1 ATV. We may have used 20 gallons of water to wet line two voids in the fire breaks. The trick is knowing to use it before there is a problem. You'll be tired enough if all goes well.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
You're a little late to plan your rotation on the crops to aid your burns, but you can look at what you've got and see if that helps in pulling off any of these burns. Burning into brown crops isn't good.
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Being rented ground I don't have much control over that anyway but I can go in in the fall or spring and disk up whatever i need to.

Whatt do you recommend for width on disked breaks in crops and mowed breaks on the CRP edges? I have a 22' disk and a 7'flail mower and 10' bush how that does not do as good of job of mulching the litter as the flail does.
 
We're using about 16 foot disked breaks for our grassland burns. If you're using mowed breaks, you want to be able to turn a truck or tractor around in it. I don't run a head fire into a 16 foot break, I back fire off of it to widen it out to >100 feet for spring burns before running a head fire into it. Even then there are physical features that can require it to be wider. You have to know that the atmosphere is stable the day of the burn. If it's not, a vortec can carry fire over the widest fire break. NOAA and NWS weather web sites can help with this information. The tabular forecast will list hour-by-hour numbers for wind speed, direction, humidity, etc. Don't burn if the humidity is under 40%. The chance of spark over is significantly higher below 40%. I like to mow breaks the summer and fall before the burn. That lets cool season grasses grow in the break and they can aid in making the break more unpenetrable. They can be remowed in the week prior to the burn to reduce height.
 
Thanks PD. I do watch that hour-by-hour alot for whitetail hunting and very helpful. I plan to mow breaks this fall and disk the crop edges in the spring.

Like Landman said I'll plan to get the firechief out and get his input on how he would like it setup.

Looks like I can get some cost share on burn and can give that to the local fire department as support.
 
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