Drought is Good News for Pheasants!

UGUIDE

Active member
The best thing to happen this year to pheasants in South Dakota is THE DROUGHT!

Here's why. Farmers could have drought proofed their crops had they used simple conservation agriculture practices. The new bleeding edge in commodity agriculture today is all about managing soil health. And to do that you use old school tactics like crop rotations, no-till and cover crops (mulch).

Farmers can bank moisture in the soil using these practices. In a state that receives 17" of rainfall annually this should be important.

I am seeing the results firsthand on my own ground by partnering with my producer renter and USDA and the CSP program. We locked in this rotation in a 4 year cash rent agreement.

Another of my partners that works for South Dakota corn growers has looked at our crops recently and says they are some of the best he has seen. We will have more info on results this fall coming later.

Simply adding wheat and cover crops into the corn and soybean rotation and going no till is mainly what is required to transform the landscape.

What can hunters do? Buy more products at your store from the organic section and more sustainably produced section.

Buying more dogs, guns and shells doesn't do much. PF prairie storm shells are only ones I can think of that is an easy conservation spend.

You should also have conversations with you farmer about his farming practices. You will hear that wheat don't pay and so only has corn and soybeans planted. this system has big problems on the horizon like weed resistance among a host of other issues with the list growing every year.

Some producers using the soil health systems can actually get off crop insurance because it mitigates their risk to a point where they don't need it.

Hunters that look for these types of producers this fall in drought areas will most likely find more pheasants in those areas as well because they are pheasant and cattle friendly systems.

Producers ears are going to be more open to listening to the not so new buzz going around the corn belt.
 
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kind of like the best thing to happen this year to my sex life is gaining 85 lbs, breaking out in severe acne, and having to disclose to everyone that I meet that I am HIV-positive...man, I have no time for anything else! It is pretty fricking awesome!!!!!!!! By the way, I figured out this very morning that all the banter this summer about droughts not affecting pheasants, etc., was your very SUCCESSFUL attempt at punking us!!!! You slay, dude GUIDE!
 
Here's why. Farmers could have drought proofed their crops had they used simple conservation agriculture practices. The new bleeding edge in commodity agriculture today is all about managing soil health. And to do that you use old school tactics like crop rotations, no-till and cover crops (mulch).

Farmers have known crop rotation to be necessary for so long, it's sad that the almighty dollar (poor crop prices) has essentially forced them to ignore this. Along with re-introducing crop rotation, hopefully the technology of more efficient planting practices sets the trend the right direction for farmers AND hunters.
 
Remember, the guy is in the pheasant business, trying to sell, sell, sell. If you want to see what drought does to an area, come to NE Montana, it will wake you up in a hurry.
 
kind of like the best thing to happen this year to my sex life is gaining 85 lbs, breaking out in severe acne, and having to disclose to everyone that I meet that I am HIV-positive...man, I have no time for anything else! It is pretty fricking awesome!!!!!!!! By the way, I figured out this very morning that all the banter this summer about droughts not affecting pheasants, etc., was your very SUCCESSFUL attempt at punking us!!!! You slay, dude GUIDE!

Well it looks rough for ya but you are at the basement and you are ready to try something new!
 
Remember, the guy is in the pheasant business, trying to sell, sell, sell. If you want to see what drought does to an area, come to NE Montana, it will wake you up in a hurry.

Sell? We are full! I been through several major droughts, blizzards and lost money growing crops. The Big Ag shareholder is the powerful salesman here. They don't care where the product goes or what it does they just want their dividend ain't that right BB?
 
I couldn't sell anything but corn and soybeans around here.

I do sell some hay, but I'd hate to try and bale 200 acres of it in this climate.
 
You sold them at one point, unless you allow free hunting now? I do not argue the corporate farm aspect you mention. The loss of the family farm is one of the saddest things that has happened to this country since the 70's I would say. My home state of Nebraska implemented a law back quite a few years, outlawing corporate land acquisitions, but it was eventually ruled against the constitution, rightfully so I suppose. I would argue your a small business, rather then a family farm operation. Nothing wrong with that if the market supports it.
 
Guess who manages your hunting land? The farmer? The landowner? NO. The Agronomist! They rule the roost. The producer can't go to the bathroom without consulting their agronomist. Whatever they say goes and most of them are not preaching soil health. They run on big ag and short term profits.

Thank God PF is getting in the game http://pheasantsforever.org/Newsroo...ore-Profit-for-Producers-Pheasants-Forev.aspx
 
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17 means its a freaking drought every year! C Mon man! Plan on it being DRY. But if you want to subsidize crop insurance so the farmer can till the ground up in a state that gets 17 a year and bail him out when it fails be my guest.

yeah I get it 17 is dry , dry even for pheasant farming. Hell you lose more than that to transpiration. It is good that all but the driest parts of the state get more. For whatever reason you choose to come on here and start twisting numbers.
 
L. Ron uguide's church of pheasantology!!!!!!!

I should be committed! I am now reading the cult book "Growing a Revolution". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4p-kQ6D8aA

also attending the states annual meeting of conservation districts where Montgomery will be the keynote speaker next week. Then doing a corn tour middle of next week with my farmer, rep from SD Corn growers and my farmers banker.

The insanity of it all! Wonder if they will have any gun raffles at the meeting?

SIIiiiPPPPPP! Ahhhh thats good Kool-aid.....
 
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