Farm Practices & Pheasants

[BritChaser]

Saw for the first time this weekend a new implement that essentially scrapes stalks off the ground and puts them in windrows for baling. After that, the field is essentially bare dirt. There's still grain on the ground but no cover to secure the pheasants while feeding. Also, corn harvested with new headers leaves fields that are less pheasant-friendly too. The old headers pulled the ears off the stalk. The new ones cut the stalk at about a foot off the ground and chop the chaff, leaving less cover for pheasants.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I should post this anonymously, but here goes.
The Corn Producers of SD are promoting the idea that they are the true environmentalists in this big ad campaign. Horse hockey as the late great Henry Morgan stated on MASH. They got the crops out early and are now burning ditching tiling and plowing the sloughs and ditches. Then the next article in the paper describes how all the added water is effecting everyone downstream.
I am not a tree hugger and these folks can and will do what they want with their land, but the "true environmentalists" campaign is a major crock. They claim how much more corn production they are getting out of less land. True yeilds are better then ever per acre, but they are also farming every square inch possible with the high corn prices. Plus heavy chemical and fertilizer applications are required to sustain corn ground and noe they take all the stalks out.
The sooner corn ethanol goes bust, the better. It's a myth and everone here is paying for it twice, at the pump and your tax bill to say nothing about the wildlife.

 

[oldandnew]

I should post this anonymously, but here goes.
The Corn Producers of SD are promoting the idea that they are the true environmentalists in this big ad campaign. Horse hockey as the late great Henry Morgan stated on MASH. They got the crops out early and are now burning ditching tiling and plowing the sloughs and ditches. Then the next article in the paper describes how all the added water is effecting everyone downstream.
I am not a tree hugger and these folks can and will do what they want with their land, but the "true environmentalists" campaign is a major crock. They claim how much more corn production they are getting out of less land. True yeilds are better then ever per acre, but they are also farming every square inch possible with the high corn prices. Plus heavy chemical and fertilizer applications are required to sustain corn ground and noe they take all the stalks out.
The sooner corn ethanol goes bust, the better. It's a myth and everone here is paying for it twice, at the pump and your tax bill to say nothing about the wildlife.

Don't forget the grocery store bill as well.

 

[captaincoot]

Don't forget less fuel mileage:thumbsup: 10 cents a gallon less don't even come close to offsetting mileage with plan stuff.

 

[jeffstally]

I should post this anonymously, but here goes.
The Corn Producers of SD are promoting the idea that they are the true environmentalists in this big ad campaign. Horse hockey as the late great Henry Morgan stated on MASH. They got the crops out early and are now burning ditching tiling and plowing the sloughs and ditches. Then the next article in the paper describes how all the added water is effecting everyone downstream.
I am not a tree hugger and these folks can and will do what they want with their land, but the "true environmentalists" campaign is a major crock. They claim how much more corn production they are getting out of less land. True yeilds are better then ever per acre, but they are also farming every square inch possible with the high corn prices. Plus heavy chemical and fertilizer applications are required to sustain corn ground and noe they take all the stalks out.
The sooner corn ethanol goes bust, the better. It's a myth and everone here is paying for it twice, at the pump and your tax bill to say nothing about the wildlife.

+1

Except I will add that people can do what they want with their land, until it effects someone else's land. When they drain tile, it causes many problems downstream including flooding. Look at the Red River. Thousands of acres now drain right into the river during spring melt that naturally would have been held in a wetland and slowly released into the ground. Now it rushes into the river and causes a flood every other year downstream. Then the flooding repairs are subsidized by our tax dollars.

 

[oldandnew]

+1

Except I will add that people can do what they want with their land, until it effects someone else's land. When they drain tile, it causes many problems downstream including flooding. Look at the Red River. Thousands of acres now drain right into the river during spring melt that naturally would have been held in a wetland and slowly released into the ground. Now it rushes into the river and causes a flood every other year downstream. Then the flooding repairs are subsidized by our tax dollars.

You don't mean to insinuate that we have a responsibility to each other to manage businesses, agriculture, and government with concern for the big picture, even if it isn't what the individual wants to do now, for personal gain, everybody else be darned, do you!!! That's almost un-American, as I'm sure you'll be told forthwith.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

Don't forget less fuel mileage:thumbsup: 10 cents a gallon less don't even come close to offsetting mileage with plan stuff.

Air/Fuel ratio for gasoline 14.7/1 at sea level
A/F for alcohol:7:1

You are correct,sir.

 

[IdahoHombre]

I won't call anybody un-American. But the farmer's retort is sensible. Yes, they are taking advantage of high corn prices, farming every inch of ground, stalks and all. But they're doing it so they can survive the down times, which are far more frequent than the good times. The last few years have been an anomaly with commodity prices. It would be unfair, at this point, to accuse them of raping the land with greedy grins. They know ag could go down the drain again, and they're strengthening their balance sheets in the meantime.

On the other hand - we just want to hunt pheasants!

Here's one thing that has proven to be successful: make the farmer who's land you hunt an extra pie this year, and ask him to leave you a little more pheasant cover - a couple of rows or whatever (and that can be done even with the new-fangled combines). Sometimes an appeal to the belly speaks more than anything. But the point is - if there is at least a little more cover - a row or two - it will help keep the pheasants around.

Get to know the farmers. Make it point to sit early mornings in the coffee shops, shoot the breeze with them, and let them get to know who you are in the community. Then get them alone sometime, and just talk about the issue. I've found that most farmers like seeing the birds there, and there's usually some minor sacrifices they are willing to make to accommodate that.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

A bumper sticker you still occasionally see in Gillette WY: Please God let there be another oil boom, I promise I won't piss this one away!


But the best Gillette bumper sticker of all time, although completely irrelevant to this topic: When D9s are outlawed,only outlaws will have D9s.

 

[captaincoot]

I won't call anybody un-American. But the farmer's retort is sensible. Yes, they are taking advantage of high corn prices, farming every inch of ground, stalks and all. But they're doing it so they can survive the down times, which are far more frequent than the good times. The last few years have been an anomaly with commodity prices. It would be unfair, at this point, to accuse them of raping the land with greedy grins. They know ag could go down the drain again, and they're strengthening their balance sheets in the meantime.

On the other hand - we just want to hunt pheasants!

Here's one thing that has proven to be successful: make the farmer who's land you hunt an extra pie this year, and ask him to leave you a little more pheasant cover - a couple of rows or whatever (and that can be done even with the new-fangled combines). Sometimes an appeal to the belly speaks more than anything. But the point is - if there is at least a little more cover - a row or two - it will help keep the pheasants around.

Get to know the farmers. Make it point to sit early mornings in the coffee shops, shoot the breeze with them, and let them get to know who you are in the community. Then get them alone sometime, and just talk about the issue. I've found that most farmers like seeing the birds there, and there's usually some minor sacrifices they are willing to make to accommodate that.

Leaving me some pie would work:thumbsup: My brother left about 3 acres of weeds in a drown out. And them hunters are so nice they hunt it for us Never gave us a thing Maybe I'll leave them a conibear for Mr. doggy as a way of thanking them

 

[moellermd]

After I pay for expenses, tractor, netwrap, baler, fuel, loss of nutrients and my time I can make 5 bucks a round bale. I get 4 bales an acre which equals $20 an acre. On an 80 that means $1600. How many of you guys have donated $1600 to PF to help bird habitat? And that is just on field. Multiply that by 10 or so and it starts to add up.

 

[mnmthunting]

After I pay for expenses, tractor, netwrap, baler, fuel, loss of nutrients and my time I can make 5 bucks a round bale. I get 4 bales an acre which equals $20 an acre. On an 80 that means $1600. How many of you guys have donated $1600 to PF to help bird habitat? And that is just on field. Multiply that by 10 or so and it starts to add up.

Moellermd, I bet you have not had unemployment, workmens comp, paid vacation. Heck I'm a combat vet and have NEVER had a Veterans day off.
Oh well:cheers: We are here to serve.:cheers:

 

[BrowningCitori]

So much for the good old days

I should post this anonymously, but here goes.
The Corn Producers of SD are promoting the idea that they are the true environmentalists in this big ad campaign. Horse hockey as the late great Henry Morgan stated on MASH. They got the crops out early and are now burning ditching tiling and plowing the sloughs and ditches. Then the next article in the paper describes how all the added water is effecting everyone downstream.
I am not a tree hugger and these folks can and will do what they want with their land, but the "true environmentalists" campaign is a major crock. They claim how much more corn production they are getting out of less land. True yeilds are better then ever per acre, but they are also farming every square inch possible with the high corn prices. Plus heavy chemical and fertilizer applications are required to sustain corn ground and noe they take all the stalks out.
The sooner corn ethanol goes bust, the better. It's a myth and everone here is paying for it twice, at the pump and your tax bill to say nothing about the wildlife.

Yea, won't take long and South Dakota will have as many pheasants as southern Minnesota! I grew up in southern MN where pheasants were an endangered species, hope I am wrong..

 

[oldandnew]

After I pay for expenses, tractor, netwrap, baler, fuel, loss of nutrients and my time I can make 5 bucks a round bale. I get 4 bales an acre which equals $20 an acre. On an 80 that means $1600. How many of you guys have donated $1600 to PF to help bird habitat? And that is just on field. Multiply that by 10 or so and it starts to add up.

I'll guarantee that even if you find a PF member giving $1600 per year, it wouldn't do half of the good that you leaving 80 acres of unmowed ground would do! To get the same amount of value on the ground, you'd need about 5000.00 in donation, annually. Now that as they say makes the cheese more binding!

 

[moellermd]

I'll guarantee that even if you find a PF member giving $1600 per year, it wouldn't do half of the good that you leaving 80 acres of unmowed ground would do! To get the same amount of value on the ground, you'd need about 5000.00 in donation, annually. Now that as they say makes the cheese more binding!

The only thing a unchopped field gives you is more residue. There is still the same amount of corn to eat. In fact I would argue that the chopped field does more good for pheasants because it does not trap snow. It acts more like a bean field and the snow blows off exposing the corn kernals. If you are concerned about a winter food source you should be begging farmers to bale stover.

 

[mnmthunting]

I wonder how many pheasants made the tough Winter by getting into farmyards and fattening on spilled grain. Every grain bin has spilled grain.

 

[Wirehairs]

After I pay for expenses, tractor, netwrap, baler, fuel, loss of nutrients and my time I can make 5 bucks a round bale. I get 4 bales an acre which equals $20 an acre. On an 80 that means $1600. How many of you guys have donated $1600 to PF to help bird habitat? And that is just on field. Multiply that by 10 or so and it starts to add up.

Each bale contains roughly $20 in nutrients for the ground, not to mention the organic matter you are losing. If you are baling up these stalks you should be replacing those nutrients with fertilizer. $20 a bale times 4 bales = $80 an acre x 80 acres = $6400 If you are really including your loss of nutrients in to your profit equation you must be selling your bales for more than anyone else I know can. The is a faculty member from the University of Nebraska Extension service that says cornstalks should never be baled up unless you can get $100/ton for them. Just so you can use that money to buy your lost fertility back.

 

[UGUIDE]

The only thing a unchopped field gives you is more residue. There is still the same amount of corn to eat. In fact I would argue that the chopped field does more good for pheasants because it does not trap snow. It acts more like a bean field and the snow blows off exposing the corn kernals. If you are concerned about a winter food source you should be begging farmers to bale stover.

I got a feel good. I chopped my corn stalks this year.

 

[oldandnew]

I got a feel good. I chopped my corn stalks this year.

Less field residue can also mean no cover in the feeding area at all. so birds are forced to expose themselves to predators while gleaning grain in the barren wasteland. Also closes the middle of large fields to birds because of the distance from any cover, no bird will risk it. How many birds you guys shoot out of the middle of soybean fields, or baled corn stover parcels, as apposed to milo stubble, or corn stubble? Yeah, that's what I thought.

 

[niceshot]

oldandnew I agree, sometimes the obvious most intuitive answer is the correct one.