Shelter Belt

C

cyclonenation10

Well-known member
Here is my excel sketch for the Shelter Belt/Food Plot combo we will be planting on our new farm this spring. Property is all crop now, about 120 acres. Will be renting this year and hoping to get it all into a program by the following year. Eastern Iowa.

Any suggestions? for shrubs, will be some combination of dogwoods, plums, highbush cranberry, button bush, etc.

Will total about 1,000 shrubs, 120 cedars, and 180 spruce. Located on the NW corner of the property.

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I really like what you have planned there! Not sure what program or requirements the program might have, but inside of the bigger food plot (into the field), if allowed, a larger mono block of switch grass. That switch grass will be the great winter cover, easy access to the food and good escape cover when feeding. All the habitat will protect the switch grass cover from blowing-in with snow with your prevailing NW winds. Great choice on the shrubs listed, I plant ones that will provide both cover and food (a nut or berry). I think you will want to space the shrubs at least 8 feet between the rows, I think ours were 12 feet, but after 7-8 years we can still drive and UTV between them, except next to plums. You might consider spreading some white clover seed between the rows, it is short, flowers to bring bugs, easy for chicks to navigate, suppresses weeds. In ours (NW IA) the wild plums do the best, they do sucker and will get thick, which I like. Talk with your local PF guys, (and/or county conservation) they might have a tree planter and may have man-power to help. They might even provide financial help. If you have access or can find a someone with a machine to lay-down the plastic or fabric mat consider that. In the first 3-4 years trying to keep the unwanted vegetation down, can be quite overwhelming. A cheaper option would be to use a mix of Pendulum & Prowl. I set-up a single nozzle on our Gator to apply a band on each side of the shrub rows to suppress the weeds. If the power company is doing tree trimming around the power lines in a town near your ground, I found they are very willing to dump their mulch at your site (ours was just over 8 miles from town). This should be a fun habitat project for sure!! Oh yah, maybe the most important thing for success...pray for rain! Keep the thread alive as you progress on this....love this stuff!

PS. When the time comes for the seeding of the CRP, look for a mix (or request one) without the rye grasses with the mean seeds. A mix with forbs (wild flowers) might be better for pheasants, but if you want to be able to easily control weeds (thistles) on a large scale, you might stick with just grasses...we went with the forbs, it is a pheasant deal for us...I hand spray the thistles.
 
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remy3424 said:
I really like what you have planned there! Not sure what program or requirements the program might have, but inside of the bigger food plot (into the field), if allowed, a larger mono block of switch grass. That switch grass will be the great winter cover, easy access to the food and good escape cover when feeding. All the habitat will protect the switch grass cover from blowing-in with snow with your prevailing NW winds. Great choice on the shrubs listed, I plant ones that will provide both cover and food (a nut or berry). I think you will want to space the shrubs at least 8 feet between the rows, I think ours were 12 feet, but after 7-8 years we can still drive and UTV between them, except next to plums. You might consider spreading some white clover seed between the rows, it is short, flowers to bring bugs, easy for chicks to navigate, suppresses weeds. In ours (NW IA) the wild plums do the best, they do sucker and will get thick, which I like. Talk with your local PF guys, (and/or county conservation) they might have a tree planter and may have man-power to help. They might even provide financial help. If you have access or can find a someone with a machine to lay-down the plastic or fabric mat consider that. In the first 3-4 years trying to keep the unwanted vegetation down with be quite overwhelming. A cheaper option would be to use a mix of Pendulum & Prowl. I set up a single nozzle on our Gator to a apply a band on each side of the shrub rows to suppress the weeds. If the power company is doing tree trimming around the power lines in a town near your ground, I found they are very willing to dump their mulch at your site (ours was just over 8 miles from town). This should be a fun habitat project for sure!! Oh yah, maybe the most important thing for success...pray for rain! Keep the thread alive as you progress on this....love this stuff!

PS. When the time comes for the seed of the CRP, look for a mix (or request one) without the rye grasses with the mean seeds. A mix with forbs (wild flowers) might be better for pheasants, but if you want to be able to easily control weeds (thistles) on a large scale, you might stick with just grasses...we went with the forbs, it is a pheasant deal for us...I hand spray the thistles.
Click to expand...
This is 100% pheasants, so I think we will go with a forb mix for the bulk of it. Was thinking about doing a portion of the tall grass prairie (big blue, switch, indian) in the section with the food plot similar to what you mentioned with the switch - we will just have to see what kind of programs are available next year.

I'm pretty involved with our local PF, so we will have a tractor for the weed mat, and I'm hoping we can get about a dozen or so guys to help with the process.

Will keep everyone posted on the progress!
 
remy3424 said:
I really like what you have planned there! Not sure what program or requirements the program might have, but inside of the bigger food plot (into the field), if allowed, a larger mono block of switch grass. That switch grass will be the great winter cover, easy access to the food and good escape cover when feeding. All the habitat will protect the switch grass cover from blowing-in with snow with your prevailing NW winds. Great choice on the shrubs listed, I plant ones that will provide both cover and food (a nut or berry). I think you will want to space the shrubs at least 8 feet between the rows, I think ours were 12 feet, but after 7-8 years we can still drive and UTV between them, except next to plums. You might consider spreading some white clover seed between the rows, it is short, flowers to bring bugs, easy for chicks to navigate, suppresses weeds. In ours (NW IA) the wild plums do the best, they do sucker and will get thick, which I like. Talk with your local PF guys, (and/or county conservation) they might have a tree planter and may have man-power to help. They might even provide financial help. If you have access or can find a someone with a machine to lay-down the plastic or fabric mat consider that. In the first 3-4 years trying to keep the unwanted vegetation down with be quite overwhelming. A cheaper option would be to use a mix of Pendulum & Prowl. I set up a single nozzle on our Gator to a apply a band on each side of the shrub rows to suppress the weeds. If the power company is doing tree trimming around the power lines in a town near your ground, I found they are very willing to dump their mulch at your site (ours was just over 8 miles from town). This should be a fun habitat project for sure!! Oh yah, maybe the most important thing for success...pray for rain! Keep the thread alive as you progress on this....love this stuff!

PS. When the time comes for the seed of the CRP, look for a mix (or request one) without the rye grasses with the mean seeds. A mix with forbs (wild flowers) might be better for pheasants, but if you want to be able to easily control weeds (thistles) on a large scale, you might stick with just grasses...we went with the forbs, it is a pheasant deal for us...I hand spray the thistles.
Click to expand...
As far as thistle control in your seedings, what has been your most effective method/herbicide/timing?
 
If you're looking for switch, I would look into RC Big Rock switchgrass or RC Tucumseh as a variety. They are the next best things when it comes to switchgrass for winter cover (they stand up much better to snow than big blue, indian, and cave in rock switch). Big Rock is an improved switchgrass, originally bred from cave in rock and Tecumseh is improved from some other variety as well. Of course, you probably can't get straight switch into a program...
 
cyclonenation10 said:
As far as thistle control in your seedings, what has been your most effective method/herbicide/timing?
Click to expand...
A bit of Milestone, 5 mililiters per gallon, just a quick shot to the thistle, (don't get it on young seedlings) when they are actively growing.
 
seems like lots of cedars
 
Nothing wrong with a nice belt of cedars...next to CRP they should be fine as the CRP program will likely have mid-contract mangement of a burning which will control and rambunctious cedar spores.
 
BritChaser said:
seems like lots of cedars
Click to expand...
Any reason not to include the cedars, outside of them potentially spreading? As remy noted, I am not worried about that, we will have the CRP on a program to burn 1/3 of the property every year, and I spend a lot of time out on our other property with a chainsaw each year so that's not a worry for me. But, any other reason not too?
 
I have planted 6 different tree belts with trees similar to your choices. They all contain cedars. The only problems I've encountered is that when mature they can create a wall that is tough to get through if you need to get to the opposite side. That "wall" also will help create some pretty massive snow drifts on the downwind side of the first row of cedars. crushing/breaking down trees. I spaced mine at 12 feet apart when planted. If I could do it over, I would space them further apart, allowing more air flow or alternate species of trees within the row ie... 4-5 cedars, then some sumacs, then a few more cedars.
Good luck.
 
Those massive snow drifts are the cedars stopping the snow from filling-in all the cover behind them. If the inside shrubs are wild plums, they will bounce back from anything after they get established.
 
The cedar wall causes the snow to fill in all the cover downwind of it or behind it.
These photos show a few of the drifts we had last year. The last row of cedars are 36 feet away. Underneath the drifts, are/ the shrubs {sumac/buffalo berry/others) Absolutely destroyed them.
Not much winter cover there.
 

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Before I did anything I would check requirements of program you intend to apply for. I had land in W in CRP for years and they would have required that we mow/cut all those trees and bushes.
 
Depending on the programs, you might not be able to put the trees/shrubs into the same program as the rest of the farm...same with the food plot, but there might be other programs available for those.
 
WDH said:
The cedar wall causes the snow to fill in all the cover downwind of it or behind it.
These photos show a few of the drifts we had last year. The last row of cedars are 36 feet away. Underneath the drifts, are/ the shrubs {sumac/buffalo berry/others) Absolutely destroyed them.
Not much winter cover there.
Click to expand...
Impressive amount of snow and wind to create that! It takes a big snow fence to do that.
 
remy3424 said:
Depending on the programs, you might not be able to put the trees/shrubs into the same program as the rest of the farm...same with the food plot, but there might be other programs available for those.
Click to expand...
At this point we are considering leaving these 4 acres or so out of any program altogether to allow us some flexibility to do what we want and get started on this sooner.
 
I believe in S.D. if you agree to a 14 row shelterbelt g f & p will put it in /cover the cost. Check with your nrcs office and pf biologist. The worst that can happen is you leave shaking your head and it is infinite the best that can become of it.
 
CY, I wish I didn't live across the state from you, I love this stuff! I enjoy creating habitat almost as much as hunting pheasants.
 
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