Planting Plans for Next Year - City Slicker Needs Help

[HDC]

I have two 20 acre fields (about 10 miles apart)one inTallahatchie and one in Leflore county that I plan to plant for ducks next year. Both are land leveled and irrigated.

One will hold about 12 inches of water on one side and 6 inches on the other. It is in the middle of about 1000 acres of fields that are planted in rice or beans each year and are disked before duck season begins. I lease most of that 1000 acres and can effectively flood about 20 - 30 percent. I have talked to the farmer about burning versus disking and he is not buying. I have hunted this area for more than 5 years, but never had the oppurtunity to plant this 20 in the middle. Two of those 5 years, this 20 was not planted (too wet) and allowed to grow up in weeds and grass. Those years we had ducks by the 1000's (even when others didn't have ducks) mostly roosting, but during the day/morning too. The other 3 the field was planted, harvested and disked. We still had ducks, but not nearly as many as the other years. We also have thousands of geese that show up each year and 10s of thousands of black birds (what will they hammer the least?). I am thinking about planting 20 acres of millet with a few strips of sudex mixed in for cover out in the middles and on all four sides (it is rectangular in shape). Assuming you agree this is a sound plan, what time of year do I plant both (June?), and after planting how many times do I need to return to fertilize and spray for weeds (if any)? If I pay my local farmer to do all this, what do you would be a fair price?

The other 20 acre hole is on the banks of the Tallahatchie river. With cotton fields all around. It will hold 12 to 18 inches of water. It has recently been land leveled and surrounded by a levee. In prior years, it was subject to flooding only when the river got very high. It was planted in beans and harvested every year. Whenever the river got up on it, we had ducks. Should I go with the same plan as the first hole or try something different? Again, if I pay a local farmer a reasonable fee for the work, seed, fertilizer and poison, what should I expect to pay per acre?

[SWAG]

The fact that you can flood the entire 20 acres is a plus in that it offers you several options. You already mentioned that 1 year when the field grew up in annual weeds you had ducks. That is basic moist soil management. On a field 20 acres in size, you can do moist soil management on the bottom half and plant a crop up on the top. Millet is fairly cheap to grow and does not need much, if any, fertilizer. Corn would be more expensive but would add a little diversity since most of your moist soil grasses are much like millet.

[thcobb1]

You could consider planting grassy corn. Search on Yahoo and it will tell you how to plant. Really it is corn on a wider spacing and you will only spray once and allow the grasses to grow after the Corn is up.

We are planning on doing this next year on our lease.

[Wingman]

Corn.

[jwarwick]

HDC,

I think I would plan on hiring the farmer to plant corn for you in both places...
1. FARMERS KNOW HOW TO, AND ARE OUTFITTED TO FARM CORN!
2. ducks love it- killer attractant
3. good cover for hunters
4. plants early... so if you have a failure or flood, you have the opportunity to plant millet later as a backup.
5. farmer will know his costs on corn seed, planting, fertilizer, spraying to the dollar/acre, so you just have to arrange a cost plus fee with him (fee is highly variable)... work out an amount both of you think is fair for his time spent through the growing season on your 40 acres.

There are a bunch of disappointing stories on this board about misunderstandings between lessees and farmers... write down what your agreement is, and both of you keep a copy. I'm not talking about protection for sueing anyone.. i'm just talking about avoiding the misunderstandings. Also, go and check on the progress of the planting, crop, etc throughout the summer... so you will KNOW whats happening. Don't scrimp! If you can rent 1000 acres, pull up levees, have water wells, etc., pay the man what he needs to make a good crop.

You mentioned that one of your places was too wet to plant in past years.... that place may not be good for corn this spring if its wet again. Millet (I like Jap) is the best plan B.
Plant in July... latest Aug 1.