CRP Mix for reseeding of CRP

N

Nick C

New member
Hello pheasant fanatics,

I'm not as avid of a pheasant hunter as probably most of you, but I have shot my share over the years, but haven't killed any in 2 years now.

I live in NW IA. I am a corn/soybean farmer, and we raise turkeys. Our family has 2 miles of stream that is currently enrolled in the CRP program. We got a letter that it needed burnt or disked this spring. We're opting to disk it, and reseeding a better mix. It's nearly 95% brome right now, and very very poor winter cover for pheasants. First decent snow, and it's flattened and that's that!

I'm converting a 5 acre-acreage into a pheasant wintering area. I've chosen this mix of Native Grasses to seed here in a couple weeks. This has a larger grove, with honeysuckle on the Western and NW edges of it. I'll be planting a bunch of evergreens at some point in time as well. I also picked up some sorghum to plant near my acreage for a food source and cover. Possibly along with some corn as well, to keep standing all winter long.


From the Albert Lea seedhouse. MN CP25 Grass Mix

http://www.alseed.com/Pages/CropCategoryListing.aspx?categoryID=128


It's compromised of this:

45% Big Bluestem
10% Sideoats Gramma
10% Slender Wheatgrass
10% Indiangrass
5% Western Wheatgrass
3% Canada Wildrye
2.5% Switchgrass
2.5% Green Needlegrass


Would this also be good as cover along a stream for wintering pheasants?

Any suggestions from any of you that have been there, done that?
 
Nick C said:
Hello pheasant fanatics,

I'm not as avid of a pheasant hunter as probably most of you, but I have shot my share over the years, but haven't killed any in 2 years now.

I live in NW IA. I am a corn/soybean farmer, and we raise turkeys. Our family has 2 miles of stream that is currently enrolled in the CRP program. We got a letter that it needed burnt or disked this spring. We're opting to disk it, and reseeding a better mix. It's nearly 95% brome right now, and very very poor winter cover for pheasants. First decent snow, and it's flattened and that's that!

I'm converting a 5 acre-acreage into a pheasant wintering area. I've chosen this mix of Native Grasses to seed here in a couple weeks. This has a larger grove, with honeysuckle on the Western and NW edges of it. I'll be planting a bunch of evergreens at some point in time as well. I also picked up some sorghum to plant near my acreage for a food source and cover. Possibly along with some corn as well, to keep standing all winter long.


From the Albert Lea seedhouse. MN CP25 Grass Mix

http://www.alseed.com/Pages/CropCategoryListing.aspx?categoryID=128


It's compromised of this:

45% Big Bluestem
10% Sideoats Gramma
10% Slender Wheatgrass
10% Indiangrass
5% Western Wheatgrass
3% Canada Wildrye
2.5% Switchgrass
2.5% Green Needlegrass


Would this also be good as cover along a stream for wintering pheasants?

Any suggestions from any of you that have been there, done that?
Click to expand...

First of all I just want to say thank you for committing land to wildlife habitat:thumbsup:. I think you'll find that you'll get enjoyment and satisfaction out of installing/improving your habitat and watching the improvements take hold over the next few of years. Then, God willing, the best part of all; Pheasants and other wildlife will utilize your land.

Second, before you get hit with a load of posts regarding the Canada Rye in the mix listed above, see what you can do about the provider removing the Canada Rye from the mix/seed list. There's information about this seed on this forum if you want more info.

I'm not a big fan of Big Bluestem, but it's better than Brome as far as standing up to snow. Indian grass and Switch grass stand up to snow much better then Big Bluestem. Something to consider.

There's plenty of guys on this site that know far more on the matter than I do, so if you can, hear them out;).

Good luck!:cheers:
 
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I to would like to thank You for restoring habitat.

There is such a HUGE movement to "all native all natural":rolleyes:
Pheasants aren't native and don't require all native.

Planting Canada Wild Rye is out of the question.
I would NOT plant a grass mixture for pheasants without including Heirloom Alfalfa Varieties (tall steamy, seedy and leafy) And Sweet Clover.

Add 2 pounds of Alfalfa and 1 pound of Sweetclover. Less Big Bluestem. (per acre)

With the alfalfa and Sweet Clover there will be less sodding, more canopy.

NO GRASS will be Winter cover during heavy prolonged snow periods. period!

The Alfalfa and Sweet Clover in the mix does wonders.:cheers:
 
A big thank you for planting cover on your farm! Although Canada Rye is probably the most dangerous (to dogs), it isn't the only one. My vet surgically removed part of a seed head of slender wheatgrass from my dog's flank, it was swelled to the size of half a grapefruit. We reseeded 80 acres on our place 3 years ago. It originally had solid slender wheatgrass on the poorly-drained, low ground areas, it grew 5-ft tall and so thick you couldn't walk through it, but 10 % in your mix probably won't hurt anything. Since your mix doesn't have any forbs, MN-MT's advice on the alfalfa/clover is good, your stream buffer will then provide some brooding cover in addition to winter shelter. You may have to use roundup to kill off the brome (so it doesn't take over again). We used a light application of roundup after seeding to set back the old wheatgrass, I think the window was up to 7 days after seeding and it worked. The wheatgrass is essentially gone and the grass/forb mix we planted came in beautifully. Our Big Blue seems to stand up to snow as well as our Indian and Switch, maybe it is the variety/seed-source we happen to have, but as MN-MT says, Switch is strong stuff. My nieghbor has a 6-acre patch of pure switch, the stuff grows to 7 feet most summers and pops back up after snowfalls. This year, however, a freaky 20 inches of wet snow December 9th put it down for the duration of winter.
 
Yes do NOT! let them put c rye on your land,or green needle, or wheat grass. and make dang sure they clean the drill before they come on your land. I would look in the hopper my self... That will flat out kill dogs, period. Look at the dangerous seeds thread on here. And visit meanseeds.com. And add more switch. Blue stem is great, and taller switch both pop back up after snow melt so you have early nesting cover. And they stay standing very well with out heavy wet snow or rain. They both tolerate the wet snow better then any thing. I used big blue, little blue, Indian, side oats and forest berg switch, and Dakota switch. Love it. You can mix in some flowers. Black eyed Susan's etc. If you add clover, very little. It can take over big areas if too much.:cheers:
 
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Please please stand your ground... They can not plant anything you do not want. The USDA has ruined enough land and killed way too many good dogs already. Those 3 in your mix are no good for nothing, but death to dogs. No needle, no rye of any kind, no wheat... Inspect the drill before your seed goes in, and tell them to stop the practise of planting that deadly toxin, that kills our hunting pards.:thumbsup: Get your voices out there people.
 
Hi Nick,

first question should be what is your areas critical habitat? Nesting or winter cover.

If nesting then cool season grasses, forbes, flowers.

If winter survival then warm season grasses.

Personally if you don't have either then I like the warmer season grasses first and then cool as you can.

Your mix has a lot of big blue. I like big blue but not that much.

My warm season mixes have big blue, switch, indian, sideoats and liitle blue.

I like alfalfa in the mix like MNMT suggested if they'll let you do it.

Deifinitley want canada rye OUT.
 
Nick, you're getting a lot of good advice here. I agree with most, but would stay in the warm season realm. I don't see little bluestem in the mix and it is the most important for the nesting component. I would replace some of the big bluestem with little. The problem grasses could easily be left out. I would like to see some Maximillian Sunflower in there as it has stiff, erect stems that would add to the snow laden cover. The clover/alfalfa mix will increase the stands diversity, making it better nesting/brood-rearing cover. Some other sturdy, erect forbs would also be good to see in the mix. Good Luck!
 
Thank you all so much for the enlightening heads up.

I guess the seed mixture I did buy ,was going on non-CRP eligible ground. But near the acreage I live at, and simply put there for winter cover. A long with some sorghum/corn.

At this time, no one will be hunting this winter refuge area, so no dogs should encounter it.

I've yet to order the seed for our CRP along the stream. Is there any favorite mixtures?

I'll order a custom mixture of seed, and exclude the seeds mentioned.

Our county PF chapter offers $500 scholarship for seed reimbursement.

The first grass mixture I talked about, was right at about $120 an acre.
 
If you want winter cover, lose the big blue and replace it with shelter or cave-in-rock switchgrass. Big blue and Indian don't hold a candle to switch for winter cover.
 
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