WRP Land

[DeltaWings]

My property in madison county is in part crp the crp property that i have is all pine trees.....needless to say no ducks in sight loads of deer though

[crowder critter]

Some people dont realize the positive effects that pines have for deer just because they dont produce acorns. Granted a deer cant eat a pine cone, but for the first 10-15 years, pine thickets are deer haven with plenty of browse and cover. Once thinned, pine stands are ideal deer habitat if managed properly through chemical applications and a prescribed burning rotation.

[jwayne]

It depends on the soil type as to what type of trees is to be planted on CRP. CRP also doesn’t necessarily have to be planted in trees, it can be planted in natural grasses as well or it can be flooded. The purpose behind CRP is to remove land from production and provide wildlife habitat. No matter what type of wildlife.

WRP are designed to restore wetlands and recreate natural wetland habitat. You can plant up to 5% of the total land in food plots but they do have to be designated. Wetland also does not necessarily mean that it has to be flooded either.

The problem is that with the introduction of fall tillage, crops are not left in the fields over the winter like they use to be.

[DeltaWings]

what i love most bout my pine plantations is they're old enough that we've only one more cut left so i can see from one end to the other....in feb we begin burning it and by march looky looky at all the swingin beards findin that new growth yummy....easy pickens

[Hailcall]

The lack of waterfowl usage on WRP has been an issue for several years. That issue is being taken up now through a new program called WReP which stand s for Wetland Restoration Enhancement Program.

Most ALL WRP tracts have the potential to be wonderwaterfowl habitat if managed corretly. Therein lies the problem - most tracts are not being managed. We build "cadiallacs" only to have them be unmanaged. There are many reason for that (absentee landowners, landowners not having the know-how or desire etc, etc.). Let's face it, some landowners don't care about ducks but want to improve their habitat for deer, others are just the oppisite. Through WReP those that do have an interest in managing for waterfowl are getting the help and education and in some cases the incentives to do so.

The reason the tract near Muscadine holds so many ducks is by accident, it's because we manage that tract to enhance native vegetation through manipulation of water and soil disturbance (and also due to some historic resaons). The landowner takes an active role in management and enjoys the abundant waterfowl that utilize his property each winter. Further more this is not an isolated case, as I know of hundreds of WRP tracts that are phenomonal waterfowl areas - but it takes dedication on the landowners part.

The fact is that all WRP is on private lands. The best we can do is encourage those landowers to manage the property suited for it's best use and give them the tools to do so. The rest is up to them.

WRP WILL work and it's getting better through WReP, not only here in MS, but in LA and AR as well.

Before we start writing politicians about various programs let's think about a few things. First of all these programs all take place on private lands - without private land, what we have as sportsman? I could anwser that but I think we all know the answer. WRP has enabled thousands upon thousands of families throught this country to hold on to family farms and land that would otherwise be lost. Let's not get lost in the here and now rather think about the generations to come that will benefit from what we do with these programs today.

[Hailcall]

Sorry for the lengthy post, got a little carried away - but - one more point.

jwayne brings up a very good point. Think back to the heydays of waterfowl in MS. Back when soybeans were being harvested sometimes as late as November and December and all the waste grain went out the back of the combine and into the field for waterfowl. With all the new varieties these days, crops come out earlier and earlier which is two-fold. Bad thing is that instead of a soybean or rice kernal laying on the ground - by the time the winter rains and waterfowl get here that waste grain has sprouted into a new plant. Good thing is in alot of cases, the tillage being done following harvest is encouraging some natural, native vegetation that should be available to wintering waterfowl.

Times are changing. We just have to be able to adapt and change with them.

[George Dickel]

you dont know jack about farming or wrp

[Hailcall]

Well now Mr. Dick, ummm I mean Dickel - It's obvious that your well educated and well versed.

Thanks for summing that up for all of us.

Input like that is invuable. You should post more often.

[SB]

Welcome aboard, Hailcall. When I was reading your first post on this topic I thought I might know you. Keep the information flowing.

[Skeeter]

I do know one thing, though, once you cut some of those trees, you go to having tons o deer and being very selective, to having NONYA....NADDA....my uncle who is a game warden of 30+ years has managed the property (in Prentiss by the way) year after year perfectly....we planted in 1989, all in pines, which was corn fields for many, many years....In 2005, we cut every 3rd row, and since the deer have been so nonexistant, that I dont even hunt my own property any more.....

....but man, the turkeys are 2 fold since then....

D

[jwarwick]

3 cheers for Hailcall! You know what they say, "Dickels for Drinkin"

Anyway, it really irks me when men enroll property in WRP, they get a huge check from the government and with the help of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and DU, they decide on some elaborate plan for a perpetual wetland using 3D CADD systems and on site surveys... they cost share or get a freebie on land forming, dozer work, road grading and flashboard pipes... THEN they either ignore the property for years, or sell it to someone who does. The property quickly falls into a natural wild state which it should have been left to do in the first place. Beavers alternately plug the drainage, and dig holes in the expensive berms and natural grasses boom.
The government could have gotten the same wetland benefit by paying the guy to just walk away from it in the first place. If you didn't even touch it, over time you would have a wetland just like the one that was there before it was cleared to farm.

[pntailhntr]

That's exactly what I'm talking about hailcall. People who put this land into WRP and don't jack with it. WReP sounds GREAT, IF it will be managed correctly. What I'm saying about the letters is to put pressure on the right people to get the people with the land off their Arss's to get the land working so the ducks will come back to the fields they USED to come to!!

And to hell with a deer, CRP can kiss my duckin ARSS!!!

[jwarwick]

pintailhntr,
I really don't see how the glory days as we remember them being are going to return. Back then, there were thousands and thousands of acres of soybeans farmed where fields stayed wet all winter. The combines were not so efficient- leaving beans everywhere.
Now most farmers in the lower delta are into cotton and corn (harvested in Sept.). The WRP acres that are available for agriculture (5% of the enrolled acres perhaps) are a DROP IN THE BUCKET compared to the thousands of soybean acres in the past. The ducks have adapted to what is provided. They spread out more and are not concentrated like before.
BTW- CRP can produce food and water for ducks! I've got my own little piece and its working out well.

[Hailcall]

Hey there SB - yeah you know me, we talked on the phone just the other day as a matter of fact. I used to come here quite often, work takes care of that nowadays.

Guys you are absolutley right. As SB can attest, sometimes dealing with private landowners is a tough thing, but as I said before without them, what would we have?

SB has been intrumental in getting some of the things I talked about going - theres even some workshops that have been done and more on the way, but we can't force the landowners to come. Believe me, it's a tought thing to work on one of these WRP projects and then walk away knoiwing the potential, but wondering if that potential will ever be reached.

All we can do is our best at restoring the habitat and slowly but surely, keep reaching out to as many landowners as will listen. It will take time, but I think we are well on our way. WReP is defenitly working, but the progam is just getting started. I look for big things to come from it.

[jwayne]

[quote="George Dickel"]you dont know jack about farming or wrp[/quote]


I work for the NRCS, I should know...