Food Plot dilemma

landman

landman

New member
I'm not sure what to do about my food plots. I currently have 23 acres, which I plant and care for each year. But in order to have decent plots each year there are some input costs that must be done. Here is a budget:

1. seed - usually provided
2. Weed control chemical - two to three applications - $40 per acre
3. Fertilizer - $75 per acre
4. Disking, mowing etc - $12 per acre.

Therefore it costs about $127 per acre to provide a decent food plot. For me that cost is $2921 per year, not counting my time for planting and spraying or cost of equipment such as a planter and tractor. I plant the food plots with my tractor and planter and spray with my ATV boomless sprayer. Since I provide free hunting on my land I can qualify for cost assistance of $20 per acre or $460 total. This leaves an out-of-pocket expense of $2461 to have 23 acres of food plots.

My friends and their friends do not contribute anything to the cost of the plots, which leaves the entire cost to me. My choices are to drastically cut down on the food plots, say just to five acres or so or maybe none at all, or ask my friends and their friends to contribute to the input costs. I usually host about 75 to 100 hunter equivalents, which is defined as one hunter for one day. If I divide my cost of $2461 by 75 hunter days then the individual cost is $32.81 per hunter day. Even if I say that I would provide at least five acres for my own personal enjoyment and the rest is for the guests then the cost is $1926. Dividing that by 75 we get $25.68 per hunter day. Given that it might seem reasonable to ask each guest to donate $25 to $30 per day of hunting to the food plot fund.

What would you do in my situation?

LM
 
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Educate your hunters and you'll find that they stop in their tracks and give you the $ without you having to even ask...that's my guess. I find that most guys who aren't involved in acquiring/managing hunting land have absolutely no idea what goes into it...in fact, they have (like I used to) many misguided notions about what is involved. I would consider printing a little flyer that includes the aforementioned info, plus any other info you care to provide--hunting dates, suggestions about guns/chokes/shells, updates ("lots of sand burrs this year"..."real wet, bring rubber boots"...etc)...and you could also mention that the invite is for the recipient, no more. Just a thought...ask for the $ in one way or another, it is only fair.
 
Landman, the solution is simple, join UGUIDE and problem solved :D:D:D

But seriously, those inputs sound little high on the weed control and fertilizer???

I guess if I were you I would charge a minimal food plot fee but then you would be in breach of contract with GFP on the $20/acre cost share. You would just have to build that cost into fee for hunters.

I imagine even the slightest fee might scare away some of your friends (and friends of friends) so that would put more burden $$ on remaining hunters.

Another option might be to do away with food plots and just put milo in your rotation, harvest strips early and leave some for hunting and then harvest rest later. That is my plan to get out of food plot business. In normal rotation you could have both corn and milo to strip/hunt.

Not only would you eliminate food plot cost but pick up profit on 23 acres of now real production.
 
I think that you need to look at other options for the fertilizer and weed control costs. First, weeds may be just as important as the crop. Second, look into using manure from adjacent sources if you can find them and don't act like the food plots are production crops. What I am saying is that you don't need 150 bushels/acre of milo to call it a success. Further, look at different planting options and different crops to provide the same function. If you would plant Egyptian Wheat with a drill, it would canopy out earlier and more completely, eliminating the need for weed control. I would also look into legume crops to provide some of the nitrogen needs. Rotating cowpeas or Austrian Winter Peas with the Egyptian wheat could eliminate the need for nitrogen inputs. Some people use boxes in their drill and plant cowpeas and millet in alternating rows. I work for the State with miniscule budgets so I've learned to be a scrounge. If you ask around you may find a guy that will give you the manure if you'll do the labor part of cleaning his pens. He'll even provide the loader or skid loader to do it. Be creative. Other options are yellow clover, vetch, sanfoin, Korean Lespedeza........ Gotta do some homework, but the payoffs can be big. I plant wheat and winter peas together. Good for the deer, the soil, and the pheasants will use both the wheat and peas. Rotate that and Egyptian Wheat and you may be able to eliminate the weed control and the fertilizer some years.
 
landman said:
Yes, I can see where that could solve a lot of problems.
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On the otherhand, it could create some problems. Between yours, Verns, Brenners and Rollie's ground it is like the Gaza Strip over there with issues boundaries, deer hunting, road hunters, etc, etc. I am kinda glad to be out of that territory (area of volatility) if you know what I mean.

Remember, as soon as you collect $1 from a hunter you now have liabilities to deal with. Add $1000 of insurance onto your expense line and add that to you hunters contribution while you are at it. Just a simple fact of life. Ask your attorney if you need confirmation on that one. Maybe the way around that is with a "suggestion donation of $X".

Maybe the simpler way is to just let your friends hunt for free....
 
UGUIDE said:
On the otherhand, it could create some problems. Between yours, Verns, Brenners and Rollie's ground it is like the Gaza Strip over there with issues boundaries, deer hunting, road hunters, etc, etc. I am kinda glad to be out of that territory (area of volatility) if you know what I mean.

Remember, as soon as you collect $1 from a hunter you now have liabilities to deal with. Add $1000 of insurance onto your expense line and add that to you hunters contribution while you are at it. Just a simple fact of life. Ask your attorney if you need confirmation on that one. Maybe the way around that is with a "suggestion donation of $X".

Maybe the simpler way is to just let your friends hunt for free....
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......or maybe not at all, except for a couple of close friends and immediate family. I'm almost there.

I have a farm policy that covers fee hunting up to $10,000 in hunting revenue. If I go higher than that then I would need additional coverage. But your point is well taken that there are a lot of expenses that many folks may not realize.

If I go to fee hunting then I'd want to guide my guests too. I'm not ready to turn anyone loose unsupervised on any of my properties, at least not yet.
 
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landman said:
I'm not sure what to do about my food plots. I currently have 23 acres, which I plant and care for each year. But in order to have decent plots each year there are some input costs that must be done. Here is a budget:

1. seed - usually provided
2. Weed control chemical - two to three applications - $40 per acre
3. Fertilizer - $75 per acre
4. Disking, mowing etc - $12 per acre.

Therefore it costs about $127 per acre to provide a decent food plot. For me that cost is $2921 per year, not counting my time for planting and spraying or cost of equipment such as a planter and tractor. I plant the food plots with my tractor and planter and spray with my ATV boomless sprayer. Since I provide free hunting on my land I can qualify for cost assistance of $20 per acre or $460 total. This leaves an out-of-pocket expense of $2461 to have 23 acres of food plots.

My friends and their friends do not contribute anything to the cost of the plots, which leaves the entire cost to me. My choices are to drastically cut down on the food plots, say just to five acres or so or maybe none at all, or ask my friends and their friends to contribute to the input costs. I usually host about 75 to 100 hunter equivalents, which is defined as one hunter for one day. If I divide my cost of $2461 by 75 hunter days then the individual cost is $32.81 per hunter day. Even if I say that I would provide at least five acres for my own personal enjoyment and the rest is for the guests then the cost is $1926. Dividing that by 75 we get $25.68 per hunter day. Given that it might seem reasonable to ask each guest to donate $25 to $30 per day of hunting to the food plot fund.

What would you do in my situation?

LM
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What would be wrong with taking $100.00 per day per friend? That would seem very very reasonable for the type of QUALITY hunting you have at your spread. The extra cash could be used as seed money for next year so you don't have to dig into your own pocket all the time. A friend would understand this and the heck with the others because they weren't friends in the beginning. You should hunt for free due to all your sweat and labor inputed during the year. When I finally make it up to SD I plan on paying Chris (at his Uguide properties) his going rate. Chris cannot afford to give away his SD hunting and neither should you.
 
I agree Bilbo. IF I had a friend that invited me to hunt each year, I would not even hesitate to donate some $ to his cause. Who would balk at that? No question LM, start implying that voluntary donations are welcome. If you run out of friends to hunt with b/c they don't pay up, then I'm sure you can pick up a few replacements pretty easily on this site. Hey, the replacements would already understand how you feel about "friends of friends" so some of the work is already done :cool: Make em' pay!!! It is not asking too much
 
Landman...that would seem more than fair to me.....seems like your really doing the right thing...what I do...when someone helps me out....I usually have a bottle with their name on it in my truck to pop open together after a good hunt. A win -win situation. If asked for a little donation....seems more than fair to me. That way...you could find out who your friends are...and who is taking advantage of your friendship.
 
Not to be a smart a$$ but how much do those pheasants and other critters eat?

I don't know how big the property is or how many pheasants it supports but 23 acres seems like overkill when you factor in other available food sources like weed seed and waste grain.

As for donations from hunting buddies I say make it clear they are encouraged. Sounds like you provide a pretty respectable hunting experience and if the message isn't getting through also make it clear the invites could go away if the level of support doesn't match the quality of the hunt.

You will soon find out who is tagging along for the free ride and who genuinely appreciates what you do.
 
Downtown Bang! said:
Not to be a smart a$$ but how much do those pheasants and other critters eat?

I don't know how big the property is or how many pheasants it supports but 23 acres seems like overkill when you factor in other available food sources like weed seed and waste grain.

.
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That's what I'm thinking too. The problem is that my land is on six different parcels ranging is size from a quarter to two quarters in size and I'm told that a food plot needs to be at least five acres to be effective, hence the 23 acres. If I cut back then some parcels won't have a food plot at all.

If I'm hunting by myself then I really don't need food plots to enjoy a nice pheasant hunt. They are helpful when I have more than three or four friends along so the benefit is really for the friends. Also I don't think the plots help with pheasant survival too much since we have lots of grain fields around that are mostly no-tilled. Therefore, I don't think I'd miss them too much.

So I will probably cut back to just one plot unless my friends provide some help.
 
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Consider this then, do the tillage in a 1/2 or 1/3 per year rotation. Let them grow up to annual weeds so you have adequate brood-rearing habitat available and let them lay fallow in the off years still in weeds. You could still fertilize every 2-3 years to maintain fertility. Here, I would probably do the tillage in Oct/Nov to get the desired annuals. You can check with your DNR there to find the proper timing.

Option 2, still plant half your acreage to your normal crop of choice and leave it for 2 seasons, planting the other half the second year in rotation. Only do enough weed control the first year to ensure seed production. This will cut your costs in half.
 
Here are a few options...

Develop some perennial cover into the set up. This would cut down on some acres while also developing more travel lanes, corridors and nesting/brooding/winter cover.

No-till some of the food plots. I started this two years ago and now all I have to do is mow...no-till...and spray once (later spraying). I get some late weeds but the wildlife like the cover and the weed seeds for food.

Charging a few is an option as mentioned.

Requiring labor hours or you do not hunt is another option. We started that about 4 years ago. The first couple of years not many showed up to help...and they were turned away for the hunting. It only took a couple of years and now we get a lot of help in the spring.

Just some thoughts...

LandDr
 
landman said:
That's what I'm thinking too. The problem is that my land is on six different parcels ranging is size from a quarter to two quarters in size and I'm told that a food plot needs to be at least five acres to be effective, hence the 23 acres. If I cut back then some parcels won't have a food plot at all.

If I'm hunting by myself then I really don't need food plots to enjoy a nice pheasant hunt. They are helpful when I have more than three or four friends along so the benefit is really for the friends. Also I don't think the plots help with pheasant survival too much since we have lots of grain fields around that are mostly no-tilled. Therefore, I don't think I'd miss them too much.

So I will probably cut back to just one plot unless my friends provide some help.
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Last year in SD we hunted a crp field that had about a acre corn food plot in it. It was one of the best place we hunted. I do realize this could be an isolated coincidence but I just wanted to throw that into the discussion as I am far from an expert.
 
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