Dakotazeb
Well-known member
Saw this article in the Aberdeen American News and wanted to share. It doesn't look good.
Pheasant habitat: Here today and gone tomorrow
By GARY HOWEY, Outdoorsmen Productions LLC
3:05 AM CST, March 9, 2012
When I was a youngster growing up in Watertown during the Soil Bank Program days, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, we could go out at noon and easily have our pheasant limit and be back in a half hour to watch the Minnesota Vikings' football game.
The Soil Bank Program (Soil Bank Act) was designed to divert land regularly used for crop production to conservation uses, which was a huge boost to wildlife as it created habitat and as anyone whose spent much time in the outdoors, habitat is the key to good wildlife populations.
Like anything else things change, which included the government programs when planting crops become the top priority and the Soil Bank program went by the wayside.
For many years, habitat in some areas was pretty slim as was the pheasant population. When the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) came into being with the 1985 Farm Bill, habitat improved, as did the wildlife populations.
This last year, I hunted several states and in many areas had to look hard for what I could honestly call good habitat.
There were spots and I do mean spots where you'd find some habitat, with the CRP and the sloughs being the best habitat around. Unfortunately because of the dry fall this year many of those sloughs will be plowed, disked, planted, tiled and drained. In many of these areas the CRP fields are due to come out of the program in 2012.
Last year, in the Northern Plains states there were 800,000 acres pulled out of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with an additional 6.5 million acres scheduled to be pulled nationwide this year.
CRP is not just there for wildlife, it serves numerous purposes including helping to restore wetlands, improve water quality and helping to prevent soil erosion.
In the 25 years that CRP has been in existence, more than 2 million acres of wetlands have been restored, while 2 million acres of riparian, which are buffers between land and water that act as a filter, preventing millions of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorous from flowing into our nations streams, rivers and lakes.
Just how much land may be coming out of CRP in 2012 - well let's break it down so we can understand it more clearly.
There are 640 acres in a square mile, so if we divide the acres by 640, we should come up with the square miles of land that could possibly and may very well be taken out of the program and converted to cropland.
In Iowa there will be 232,000 acres (362.5 square miles) coming out of CRP while in Minnesota we'll see 292,000 acres (456.25 square miles). In South Dakota 227,000 acres (354.69 square miles) with 840,000 acres (1,312.5 square miles) of habitat being plowed and planted in North Dakota In Nebraska where I live, another 202,000 acres (315.63 square miles) will go under the plow as well as 520,000 acres (812.5 square miles) in Kansas plus a whopping 697,000 acres (1089.06 square miles) in Montana.
The total acres in the northern plains states that will be coming out of CRP is just over 3 million acres or 4,687.5 square miles which would be about the size of the state of Connecticut.
We're talking “Big” numbers here as nationwide there will be 10,156 square miles of acres of CRP coming out, more acres than in the states of Vermont (9,615 Sq. Miles), New Hampshire (9,283 Sq. Miles), Massachusetts (8,262 Sq. Miles), New Jersey (7,790 Sq. Miles, Hawaii (6,459 Sq. Miles), Connecticut (5,006 Sq. Miles), Delaware (2,026 Sq. Miles) and Rhode Island (1,213 Sq. Miles).
The reason for all these acres coming out of CRP is simple “Dollars” because corn and bean prices are up. As of this writing, corn is bringing approximately $6.04 a bushel, while beans were at $12.05 per bushel.
Locally, cash rent on dry-land runs from $250.00 to $350.00 per acre while irrigated ground is bringing $375.00 to $525.00 an acre.
The payments offered in the latest CPR sign in Cedar county where I live, which opens up March 12th one month, the price paid runs from $113.00 to $180.00 per acre which is based on the soil rental rates.
The loss of thousands of acres of CRP habitat along with the severe winters and wet springs we've had has been tough on the pheasant population. Fortunately the mild winter we're having this year and if we have a decent spring, the pheasants may have a decent hatch and in areas where there's decent habitat, the population should rebound.
With the loss of all this habitat some folks think pheasant hunting may be a thing of the past and in some areas it may be a tough go, but we need to remember that in several states there are still areas with good numbers of birds and even though their numbers may be down, there will still be good hunting in certain areas, those areas with habitat.
With the loss of millions of acres of CRP; pheasant hunting that was here yesterday may be gone tomorrow, as without habitat wildlife just can't survive.
Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb., is president of Outdoorsmen Productions LLC, producer/host of the Outdoorsmen Adventures television series and co-host of Outdoor Adventures radio. Visit http://www.outdoorsmenadventures.com
Copyright © 2012, Aberdeen News
Pheasant habitat: Here today and gone tomorrow
By GARY HOWEY, Outdoorsmen Productions LLC
3:05 AM CST, March 9, 2012
When I was a youngster growing up in Watertown during the Soil Bank Program days, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, we could go out at noon and easily have our pheasant limit and be back in a half hour to watch the Minnesota Vikings' football game.
The Soil Bank Program (Soil Bank Act) was designed to divert land regularly used for crop production to conservation uses, which was a huge boost to wildlife as it created habitat and as anyone whose spent much time in the outdoors, habitat is the key to good wildlife populations.
Like anything else things change, which included the government programs when planting crops become the top priority and the Soil Bank program went by the wayside.
For many years, habitat in some areas was pretty slim as was the pheasant population. When the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) came into being with the 1985 Farm Bill, habitat improved, as did the wildlife populations.
This last year, I hunted several states and in many areas had to look hard for what I could honestly call good habitat.
There were spots and I do mean spots where you'd find some habitat, with the CRP and the sloughs being the best habitat around. Unfortunately because of the dry fall this year many of those sloughs will be plowed, disked, planted, tiled and drained. In many of these areas the CRP fields are due to come out of the program in 2012.
Last year, in the Northern Plains states there were 800,000 acres pulled out of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with an additional 6.5 million acres scheduled to be pulled nationwide this year.
CRP is not just there for wildlife, it serves numerous purposes including helping to restore wetlands, improve water quality and helping to prevent soil erosion.
In the 25 years that CRP has been in existence, more than 2 million acres of wetlands have been restored, while 2 million acres of riparian, which are buffers between land and water that act as a filter, preventing millions of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorous from flowing into our nations streams, rivers and lakes.
Just how much land may be coming out of CRP in 2012 - well let's break it down so we can understand it more clearly.
There are 640 acres in a square mile, so if we divide the acres by 640, we should come up with the square miles of land that could possibly and may very well be taken out of the program and converted to cropland.
In Iowa there will be 232,000 acres (362.5 square miles) coming out of CRP while in Minnesota we'll see 292,000 acres (456.25 square miles). In South Dakota 227,000 acres (354.69 square miles) with 840,000 acres (1,312.5 square miles) of habitat being plowed and planted in North Dakota In Nebraska where I live, another 202,000 acres (315.63 square miles) will go under the plow as well as 520,000 acres (812.5 square miles) in Kansas plus a whopping 697,000 acres (1089.06 square miles) in Montana.
The total acres in the northern plains states that will be coming out of CRP is just over 3 million acres or 4,687.5 square miles which would be about the size of the state of Connecticut.
We're talking “Big” numbers here as nationwide there will be 10,156 square miles of acres of CRP coming out, more acres than in the states of Vermont (9,615 Sq. Miles), New Hampshire (9,283 Sq. Miles), Massachusetts (8,262 Sq. Miles), New Jersey (7,790 Sq. Miles, Hawaii (6,459 Sq. Miles), Connecticut (5,006 Sq. Miles), Delaware (2,026 Sq. Miles) and Rhode Island (1,213 Sq. Miles).
The reason for all these acres coming out of CRP is simple “Dollars” because corn and bean prices are up. As of this writing, corn is bringing approximately $6.04 a bushel, while beans were at $12.05 per bushel.
Locally, cash rent on dry-land runs from $250.00 to $350.00 per acre while irrigated ground is bringing $375.00 to $525.00 an acre.
The payments offered in the latest CPR sign in Cedar county where I live, which opens up March 12th one month, the price paid runs from $113.00 to $180.00 per acre which is based on the soil rental rates.
The loss of thousands of acres of CRP habitat along with the severe winters and wet springs we've had has been tough on the pheasant population. Fortunately the mild winter we're having this year and if we have a decent spring, the pheasants may have a decent hatch and in areas where there's decent habitat, the population should rebound.
With the loss of all this habitat some folks think pheasant hunting may be a thing of the past and in some areas it may be a tough go, but we need to remember that in several states there are still areas with good numbers of birds and even though their numbers may be down, there will still be good hunting in certain areas, those areas with habitat.
With the loss of millions of acres of CRP; pheasant hunting that was here yesterday may be gone tomorrow, as without habitat wildlife just can't survive.
Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb., is president of Outdoorsmen Productions LLC, producer/host of the Outdoorsmen Adventures television series and co-host of Outdoor Adventures radio. Visit http://www.outdoorsmenadventures.com
Copyright © 2012, Aberdeen News