Mid-Winter Pheasant Reports

Southwest ND has no snow. Although this week is really cold the winter for the most part has not been a factor at all. Now we have two more hours of daylight. Birds are in great shape. We will need rain in April , May and June just like we do every year. Things are looking promising.
 
Hey Wiley,

Thanks for the report.
Sounds like a great winter, but as you said, we will need rain this Spring or else it will be extremely dry and then there is the possibility of the CRP being cut by the farmers. By the way, I have no problem letting the farmers cut the CRP in emergency situations.....without them, we wouldn't have much of a pheasant population.

Ref
 
I totally agree with you that the farmers should emergency hay the grass in dry years. One thing that does not make sense to me is what todays farmer gets paid for crp. Here is my example: In 1991 the land we own now was in crp. We have two quarters. At that time the rental rate was $35 an acre. This fall it will expire at $26.15. The cover is really poor . Its all brome grass. Does not have any pheasants really on it. We will be taking it out of crp to rejuvenate the grass stand. From a dollars and cents standpoint this does not bode well for the future of grass if they are offering less then what they did 30 years ago?
 
Boy do we need rain. From the birds I am seeing including partridge and grouse, it is shaping up to be a fantastic fall. Timely rains will be crucial for water and insect hatches though. The pheasant numbers continue to amaze me on the spring walks I am going on with my dogs.
 
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