Disturbing trend??

Yes those darn canadians and now we have bull thistle. I planted some new CRP this year, I thought I did it right, but I can see that bull thistle is goibg to be a fight. MD it doesn't have to be big ag but I know what you are saying. There is so much cow habitat turning into crop land that cattle are starting to sell better and the future looks bright in that sector too.
 
UGUIDE said:
Haymaker you make the most valid points on this trend is that the economics is a big driver for these cropping changes.

It remains to be seen how far west the corn belt will push into. When one looks at the type of crops in the west river areas that have high bird numbers in begins to be no surprise.

How raod ditches look in June/July is a lot different that how thay look or how they are required to look in October.

Additionally, most landowners prefer hunting deer than pheasants if hunting anything at all. Back to haymakers point that when that bird provides economic incentive to farm for that income then I suppose the landowner is going to have good reason to do that.

You get a lot of CRP going in when it makes economic sense and alot of it coming out when it doesn't.

The "silent killer" here of what the thread is about is the declining acres that benefits bird production: Winter wheat, alfalfa and native pasture to name a few. Everyone speaks as though CRP is the only reason there are pheasants around and I suspect that is not the 100% reason.

Obviously the weather is the single biggest factor in the last year so I hope I am wrong about the declining habitats on Agricultural acres.
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There is plenty of nesting cover on the ROWs in June/July,however, that does not help a pheasant survive through the winter when mortality of mature hens is the highest. I am convinced, and biologists seem to agree that hunters have little to no effect on populations year to year. It's all about habitat.
There must be a lot of thistle up around the river near Pierre, perhaps the landowners are burning the ROWs there so that the goose hunters don't have to lay in it? If that is the case, I stand corrected, and thanks for thinking of me.
 
Lets be honest here guys. People who don't like seeing the ditches get mowed/burned don't like to see it for one reason, they can't hunt it then. The abount of winter cover provided in a ROW is about nil. Road ditches get filled level with snow no matter if there is cover in them or not.
 
If this agricultural climate continues, and the bird belt shifts even further west, I look for a reduction in the pay to play places as their leases raise and land gets taken back into production.

I am already hearing of pay to play places that are not having real good luck, or are having to supplement their bird count to the point that its no longer cost effective to operate in the eastern part of the state.

I see this affecting alot of different avenues as far as a sportsman is concerned. beginning with dog production.

With the amount of birds left in Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas I dont think I would want to depend on being able to sell puppies to optomistic hunters.
 
moellermd said:
Lets be honest here guys. People who don't like seeing the ditches get mowed/burned don't like to see it for one reason, they can't hunt it then. The abount of winter cover provided in a ROW is about nil. Road ditches get filled level with snow no matter if there is cover in them or not.
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I hope you don't insinuate that I don't care about having a sustainable resource, only about today's hunt? I can assure you that is not the case. This would be a very short-sighted attitude. Also there are many ROWs particularly West River that have no "ditch" because no dirt has been borrowed to build up the road surface. Many are dead level with nothing but wheel tracks to differentiate the surrounding terrain. In this case there is no change in terrain which would trap snow, thus rendering the cover useless. Honesty, indeed.
 
UGUIDE said:
I am getting into this first hand as I get away from cash rent on my farm crop acres and go in on shares.

My new challenge is to put wheat bean and corn acres on my 2 farms at all times and try to make that fly economically. I've got a lot to learn in that area. Years worth I suspect.
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Welcome to the real world of Ag Chris. Forget the soybeans, no money to be made there. It is time for Corn on Corn. You might want to think about putting up a hog confinment for the manure value.
 
hunter94 said:
$7 corn, $15 beans, $100 roosters.......poor farmers!:)
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Right and there is no cost of production ,tractors and other equipment is free. Oh yea it rains just the right amount every year (just ask the farmers in KS,Tx and OK) and you have no idea just how much WORK farming really is--GET REAL.
 
moellermd said:
That is what the hog manure is for. Come on Chris get with the times.
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Well I noticed the neighbor gets his whotle section commercially knifed in with hog manure each fall. They pipe it down the ditch in a big fire hose from a nearby place that has a large number of units. I'll be checking into the "feasibility" of that opportunity. Although hog manure is not high on my list of fertilizers it does have its value if priced right.
 
Speaking of disturbing trends, when I was in the Aberdeen area a couple weeks ago, the plumes of cattail burns dotted the late afternoon horizon.
 
Yes there was a lot of land that was claimed by water this spring that has dried out this fall and is trying to be claimed as farmland again. We will see who wins next spring.
 
What would happen to grain prices if ethanol loses part/most of it's subsidies ?

Not that I've researched it, but I'm hearing and seeing things in papers about this happening.
 
I sincerely hope SD doesn't end up like Iowa. The bird hunting around here is the worst in recorded history.
 
moellermd said:
Unfortunatly most people who hunt pheasants do not understand the things you have outlined.
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Like what moe? What is it that we don't understand when it comes to the "day to day" operations of a farm?

Is it having good months/years of profit? Having slow months/years of profit? Having a great year? Having a bad year--a drought year within our business's if you will? Having employees call you crying because works dries up and they can't pay their rent or put food on the table for their families? Not drawing a pay check for a year or two or more because of business costs/expenses/loans/taxes/etc are taking up what little is left in the bank account? Not finding quietly dependable workers to perform the work? State politicians changing liability and workmans' comp laws half way through the year--resulting in a massive bill when the insurance company audits you at the end of the year. State politicians forcing more regulations down our throats. State workers coming onto a gov't job you just finished up and it turns out it just doesn't meet state and federal regulations? Then forced to remove all product and start over or risk getting sued. Getting sued because you didn't read a client word for word their "rights" as a consumer prior to signing a contract? The state coming after you because you didn't have your companies workman's' comp policy nailed the a wall on the job? Paying into tax vouchers each month only to get a call from the CPA at the end of the year telling you it's not enough $--you have to pay more. Waiting on payments for 30, 60, 90 days or more? Going to the bank to try to obtain a loan to pay for those taxes, payroll, insurance, suppliers, etc. and being turned down because the loan is too risky? Product costs increases of 30% or more in one year? Taxes going up? Regardless of increases trying to stay competitive? Working 7 days a week and not seeing your family because the work you hired didn't show up for the job? Breaking down in tears when you come to the realization that your about to loose everything and you have to start over? Must I go on?

My point is this; a farm is no different than any other business moe. In fact it's just that---a business--called a "farm". Your problems and operations are not unique. The only thing unique to a farm business is the very unique way our gov't give $ to farmers. This is not the case for other small/mid sized businesses.
 
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1pheas4 said:
My point is this; a farm is no different than any other business moe. In fact it's just that---a business--called a "farm". Your problems and operations are not unique. The only thing unique to a farm business is the very unique way our gov't give $ to farmers. This is not the case for other small/mid sized businesses.
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Your exactly right farming is a buisness and buisness should be ran at peak efficeny. No asks or expects other buisness to run at less than peak efficeny. Yet many hunters demand that farmers should run at less than peak effciency so they can shoot a pheasant.

Just out of curiosity what is your complaint with the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment program and ACRE. For the little most guys are recieving from it can go away as far as I am concerned.
 
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