Lost CRP

[SDJIM]

Its been a couple of bad days here, as I've stood at the fence and watched as 220 acres of mature pheasant producting CRP got mowed and the disk is next. For 15 years this has been the lodestone of game production for several sections and I have anchored my CRP plan to it. Now I've had to watch its death--not a pretty picture. I hope my plantings will keep things going but you can not take 220 acres of CRP out of a section without some very negative impacts. I talked to the landowner yesterday and its the same story, the contract was up and with crop prices as high as they are it boiled down to the same old thing--more profit in crops than habitat. Guess I'll have to look at what else I can do on my side of the fence, but I fear it will not be enough.

 

[birdshooter]

Unfortunately a sad reality. and you can't blame the farmer for making the most of his business.

I'm no farmer, but with the higher crop prices (corn specifically) we may get to a time where there will be a surplus of corn again and that in turn should bring the price of corn down again?? making CRP attractive again. Seems to be cyclical.

 

[Prairie Drifter]

Unfortunately, a lot of farmers won't figure the numbers further than 1-2 years. If they remember, the land in CRP was often not very productive. That's why it was taken out of production. If they did the long term book on it, the needle would probably tilt the other way.

 

[bknight]

Very sorry to hear that! It is a sad thing to watch destruction of habitat to me too. Last fall I rode through hundreds of thousands of acres that were sterile as far as game was comcerned. Couldn't even leave a fence row! Sad to me , but hard to blame the farmer.

 

[mnmthunting]

Farm equipment has gotten so big and efficient that one guy is able to tear up 1000's of acres.
I have seen sq mile chunks of grassland disappear these last few years going back to wheat.
Where it used to take several farmers now 1 guy can do it. Owners are mostly retired and the new operators are mainly leasing.
Just another example of changing times.
I don't see wheat and corn dropping more then a couple $ per bushel anytime.
It is such a world market. China, India and so many developing countries.
To bad for sure.

 

[1pheas4]

I visited a friend near by a couple years back when he and his dad were removing shrubs and grassy cover on a 150 or so acres. It killed me when he told me he was flushing hens off their nests as they were removing cover.

He told me "it's progress".

I guess But can we leave a little cover and a few hedge rows? My God, wildlife needs to eat and sleep too.

 

[oldandnew]

All of which brings us back to the issue of the "rights" of private landowners. I've been called a communist for saying so, on this site, but the simple reality is we have a system in business of all kinds which allows the abuse of the enviornment for short term gain of the individual, even when it's proven that such activity is now and will cost us all collectively millions, in healthcare and actual cash to undo the ecological mess created by this activity. Ask your local water district what farm chemicals have to be specifically filtered out at tremendous expense, not to mention local water quality to the offenders themselves, Loss of topsoil, fertility, watch the dead zone in the gulf grow year by year, wheeze your way through orange air quality alerts, treat your kids for asthma. Ask yourself, do the rights of the individual rank higher than the welfare of an entire society. Where profit collides with moral responsibility, moral responsibilty loses most of the time. Maybe it's just to hard a decision to make, faced with bankruptcy or starvation today, as balanced against comfort or at least survival, who volunteers to make the great noble sacrifice first! Well as in all decisions some do, and are, some right here on this site, but statistically, the bulk of us wouldn't, I can't even say what I would do, anymore than anyone else, I might be plowing up nesting pheasants with the best of 'em. I'd like to think not, but until you have to make that decision no one can say. At some point in the future the cost of the use it all up now society, will force change upon all of us, as an apathetic public tires of the burden and starts to ask questions. We been warned since the 60's of the looming catastrophe, as usual the public will be to late. Willa Cather wrote about being unable to avoid crushing countless prairie chicken nests, just driving a wagon across the prairie. Today, we mow alfalfa killing countless pheasant hens on the nest, spray and destroy every weed patch, wildlife is the lowest rung of consideration. Not much has changed.

 

[safari]

Its been a couple of bad days here, as I've stood at the fence and watched as 220 acres of mature pheasant producting CRP got mowed and the disk is next. For 15 years this has been the lodestone of game production for several sections and I have anchored my CRP plan to it. Now I've had to watch its death--not a pretty picture. I hope my plantings will keep things going but you can not take 220 acres of CRP out of a section without some very negative impacts. I talked to the landowner yesterday and its the same story, the contract was up and with crop prices as high as they are it boiled down to the same old thing--more profit in crops than habitat. Guess I'll have to look at what else I can do on my side of the fence, but I fear it will not be enough.

Sorry to hear..if you go back thru the archives far enough I think I pointed this out as your greatest threat.

The days of great pheasant hunting are over I am sorry to say.