The need to manage crop planting and harvesting is one of the challenges facing anyone that owns farmland.  If you are a farmer the solution is an easy one.  But, if you are not then sharecropping, cash renting or paying for custom work are about your only options.  Farming is a business with more than its share of risk, so it is little wonder that many landowners who don’t farm themselves turn to government programs such as CRP to reduce their headaches while providing a consistent income. 

 CRP farms, and active farms with some CRP fields, are very common in many parts of the country.  Often these are found in hilly and rugged areas where soil erosion is an issue.  This is exactly the kind of terrain where you will also find the very best deer habitat.  As a result, many farms in the best deer producing areas are comprised of at least some CRP fields. 

 While on the surface it would seem that CRP restricts the amount of food you can produce for deer and other wildlife, you might be surprised when you look a little deeper.  There are actually three very good programs within the CRP regulations that you can and should be taking advantage of, and a couple of ways that you can also use these government programs to create more deer habitat – all while getting paid to do it.

MANAGING CRP TO INCREASE DEER FEED

 There is some leeway built into the execution of the CRP regulations that permits individual Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) district conservationists to adapt the wildlife aspects of the program to specific circumstances.  For that reason, it definitely pays to use the following information as merely a starting point – food for thought – as you work with your county’s district conservationist to set up your personalized CRP management plan. 

 I’ve personally had some experience managing CRP for wildlife, but to further my understanding I spoke with Monroe County, Iowa District Conservationist John Frieden.  The remainder of this article is a combination of my experiences and John’s recommendations.

 Plenty has been written about the many kinds of food that should be planted to feed deer at various times of the year.  Suffice it to say that nearly all of these plantings can be made within the guidelines of the CRP program in one way or another.  There are primarily three conservation practices through which you can improve the food production capability of your land.

 Standard food plots: This is the most obvious way to increase feed levels on CRP.  It is the practice with which most landowners are familiar.  Basically, you can plant solid stands of food on 10% of your contracted CRP acres with some restrictions.  For example, in all but special cases you can’t plant more than 5 acres in one field nor more than 25% of a field.  Also, the types of feed that can be planted are restricted but the most common deer foods are on the list of allowable plantings.  For example, you can plant corn, sorghum, soybeans or clover to name a few.  These can be maintained in clean stands that are fertilized and controlled by herbicides if you desire. 

 It is important to note that planting 10% of your contract acres in wildlife food does not remove those acres from your CRP payroll.  In other words, you get paid for those acres, as well.

 The shape and layout of the fields depends to a great extend on how you prepare them.  Erosion control is still CRP’s number one over-riding priority.  Anything you do on these acres needs to be in keeping with sound soil conservation practices.  Therefore, if you prepare the ground by tillage you will need to plant in strips following land contours.  If you plant using no-till practices you have more leeway in the shape and location of your fields.  This is a point that should be taken up with your district conservationist when you go into the office to change your CRP contract to include food plots.

 Early succession programs: A little known program that exists within CRP regulations offers excellent opportunities for clover establishment.  It is called “early succession”.  In essence it is little more than the preparation of your land to produce weeds.  That’s right, I said weeds.  Believe it or not, you can enter up to 30% of your CRP acres in this practice – and that’s on top of the 10% planted in standard food plots.

 Of course, you are responsible for controlling particularly noxious weeds (a list is available at the soil conservation office) from spreading so you will have to cut or hand spray for them selectively.

 Early succession programs were initiated to support upland bird habitat.  Basically, you can work the soil and then leave it to grow whatever germinates.  While you aren’t allowed to treat the ground with chemicals or mow it once begins to grow, there is nothing that says you can’t spread clover seed on the worked soil and then fertilize it. 

 Though clover requires maintenance to reach its potential in terms of feed production, it establishes fast and will hold its own in a new planting.  The second year may be a bit dicey from the standpoint of clover production, but you will get at least one good year out of each such planting.  Also, there is nothing that prevents you from reworking the same ground the following spring and starting a fresh early succession cycle with another fresh dose of clover seed.

MANAGING CRP FOR BETTER COVER

 Many would be surprised to learn that the government soil conservation programs provide for a means to establish cover that is very compatible with whitetail deer.  Not only that, but also these programs will actually help you pay for the trees and then pay you handsomely every year for keeping those acres in cover.

 Riparian buffer strips: If your farm is low on cover and has any kind of waterway flowing through it you have a great opportunity to dramatically increase deer habitat through the use of riparian buffer strips.  These strips border any waterway and provide for the establishment of trees and shrubs within a strip that is 180 feet wide on either side of the waterway.  That’s a total band of cover 120 yards wide!  That’s a football field goal post to goal post.

 Because water quality and waterway erosion are such high priority efforts in all soil conservation programs, there are tremendous incentives to stabilize the soil bordering any kind of waterway.  If you are converting cropland to buffer strips you will be paid 125% of the calculated land rental rate for that soil type every year.  This can be well over $100 per acre in areas with decent soils. 

 When converting land with no crop history into buffer strips you will receive slightly more than $85 per acre every year.  You also receive cost share for the purchase of the trees, shrubs and grasses that you plant.  This program is part of what is called a continuous sign-up.  There is no specific enrollment period; you can walk in and sign up for it at any time. 

 Filter strips: Filter strips are like riparian buffer strips but with a couple of exceptions.  Filter strips are only 120 feet wide on each side of the waterway and only eligible on acres with a cropping history.  Also, you are restricted from planting trees in these acres but switchgrass does happen to be a recommended planting.  Anyone who has planted switchgrass in fertile bottomland soils will tell you that it grows dog hair thick and seven-feet tall.  A 120-foot wide strip of switchgrass will produce a lot of deer cover.  Filter strips are also part of the continuous sign-up program so you can go in tomorrow and enroll if you wish.

 Switchgrass enhancement: Depending upon the details of your specific contract, you may be able to enhance some or all of your existing CRP by replanting it to switchgrass.  As already mentioned, switchgrass is very good deer cover and in areas with limited timber it can become an important bedding area.  Check with your district conservationist to determine your eligibility for planting switchgrass on existing CRP acres.

A SAMPLE CRP MANAGEMENT FOOD PLOT PLAN

 On the farm that I’ve been involved with over the past seven years we’ve elected to plant grains for fall and winter utilization - specifically corn, sorghum and soybeans - in our standard food plots.  At first we planted corn from seed we got from local wildlife groups.  We experienced good results for the first two years until the deer acquired a taste for the plant itself and began wiping out the small plots during the late summer.  At that time of year the stalks are sweet and apparently tasty. 

 We decided that supporting their junk food addiction served no purpose.  Deer need protein in the summer.  Corn is much lower in protein than clover or alfalfa.  It was like giving a child a choice between Ho-Ho’s and a well-rounded meal.  We took away their choice and stopped planting corn.

 Next we tried sorghum.  Deer won’t touch grain sorghum during the summer.  Again we experienced good results the year after making the switch.  The deer left the heads alone until they really needed them for energy in late winter.  But deer are opportunists and once they got used to the sorghum they began to hit it earlier in the fall.  It got to the point where they would wipe out an entire stand of sorghum during the two-week period when the seeds were still doughy and drying down – mid-September in Iowa.  Apparently, that is the stage in development when the heads are most palatable. 

 Once again, we felt that we had better options for them at this time (still clover and alfalfa) so we began planting forage sorghum – the really tall stuff with heads that are eight feet off the ground.  Even though forage sorghum puts out smaller heads than grain sorghum, it worked fairly well.  The deer couldn’t reach the heads readily and left them alone for the most part until winter.  Forage sorghum also produces tremendous cover for deer, turkeys and pheasants.  However, we discovered that a rotation program was needed to keep the sorghum growing well.  It also needs a lot of nitrogen and that’s expensive.  That brought us to soybeans.

 Deer love to eat soybeans during the summer, almost as much as they love a good clover plot.  While the beans don’t offer as much crude protein as high-grade Whitetail Clover they do offer a level that is roughly comparable to standard red clover.  What makes soybeans appealing is the compatibility of the plant with deer behavior.  Soybeans have the ability to withstand fairly heavy summer grazing pressure (the deer eat only the leaves) and still produce pods with beans in them that will serve as winter food. 

 Deer seem to leave the plant alone once the leaves start to dry down (usually some time in mid or late September) and don’t come back to feed on the pods themselves until early winter.  While the beans don’t have the carbohydrate content of corn they do offer high levels of protein that the deer will also readily convert to heat energy during the winter.

 The only time when beans are particularly sensitive to deer pressure is during the first couple of weeks after they break out of the ground.  If deer and turkeys snip them off at this time the plants will die.  We combat this problem by planting the beans with a no-till drill into sorghum stubble and/or weed residue.  This is not only a good conservation practice; it also provides a screen for the young plants.  The weeds are growing up with the beans helping to keep them hidden for a while.  When the competition starts to become a problem we simply spray the field with Round Up and kill the competition.  (Of course, you have to use Round Up Ready beans for this planting method to work.)

 We have chosen to plant our clover in other areas outside of our CRP food plots.  We have clover in portions of fields that required enhancement with legumes for CRP renewal.  We inter-seed it into grass in un-enhanced CRP and plant it whether permitting in areas of the farm that are typically too wet to have acquired a cropping history.  We also have a couple of commercial alfalfa fields that provide tremendous amounts of high protein forage for summer feed. 

 We have also used inter-seeding as a means to dramatically increase the clover capacity on the farm.  Inter-seeding can take a number of forms so consult with your district conservationist.  We chose to mow the grass down and drill clover right into it using a no-till drill.  As long as you don’t mow during the upland bird nesting period (May 15 – August 1) you are free to mow these inter-seeded plots as often as you like to release the clover and improve the amount of tender re-growth that deer prefer.  Inter-seeding, where permitted, is an excellent way to produce tons of high quality deer feed - literally.

 Both of these practices are on a case-by-case basis depending on your contract details.  These details in turn are based on the year in which the acres were enrolled or renewed.  Of course, they are also subject to the provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill that was just being released at press time.  Talk to your district conservationist to find out your options in this regard.

 Of course, you can also plant clover in your established food plots without restriction, and this should be your first choice if you aren’t able to plant clover anywhere else.

 By carefully working within the guidelines set out for CRP lands you can not only improve the amount of food and cover your farm provides for wildlife, but you can also get paid for doing it.