Discing of row crop feilds to be flooded for hunting

[WTRFLR]

What is yall's opinions on farmers discing the stuble under on a feild that will be flooded for duck hunting, whether it be corn, beans or rice.
Common sense tells me that it would be best to leave the waste grain on top, rather than turning it under where the ducks can't get to it as obviuosly a mallard can't dig.
With the past couple of falls being so dry, I have notice more and more farmers doing post harvest crop manipulation, either burning/ discing/ ect.
Ive been hunting in the delta for over twenty years now and have seen this going on more in the last two years than the previous years combined. Granted i think it is due to these areas being dry enough for the farmers to get in and disc when in a a normal year it probably would not be. It seems like a waste of time and diesel to me, knowing if it sits there during the entire winter, he will have to disc again in the spring in prepararation for planting.

I understand the mentality of the farmer, if he does it now, thats less he has got to do in the spring prior to planting.

Does it hurt the duck hunting and a farms/area's ability to hold and sustain a huntable population of ducks?

[donia]

the quicker he can get it turned under, the quicker the stubble starts to decompose back into the soil before it gets too cold for decomposition to come to a crawl. depending on what he's planting, the farmer most likely won't have to re-disk...either no-till planting or row and go (after burndown if necessary).

[JaMak84]

I think the advancement in harvesting effeciency and earlier harvest dates have had a much larger impact on the available food source than the post harvest manipulation. Generally the majority of corn is done by the end of august, and 90% of the rice and bean harvest is done by the end of September. With favorable weather conditions through the months of September and October, what little waste grain that is left after harvest still has enough time to germinate.

[Wingman]

I agree. September rains this year sprouted most everything harvested in August. Within a mile of my house I had corn, soybeans and rice harvested in August this year. Most of that was disked in September if not immediately after harvest in August. What waste grain was out there sprouted and they have disked that again in October. Ripped, hipped and readied for next spring. I guess they'll knock the top off of the rows and get in there early.

I also agree with donia. They turn that stuff under to start decomposition and get the field ready for the next spring. The more they have to turn the ground in the spring the more moisture they lose and have to wait for another rain to settle everything before they can plant.

About the only grain ground I haven't seen broken up is the "flood beans" down near Carter/Yazoo City area. Most of those just got harvested.

[levi127]

Does doing this benifit duck hunting or not? Thats what im trying to figure out. Im not to smart when it comes to farming.
Like you see farmers crop the fields out, leave some acres standing for hunting and then burn the rest. But yet flood the whole field when everything else has been disked and then burnt. Basically making it a mud pit with water, the way I see it I guess. Then you have the couple of acres of crops still standing that are flooded.

[Wingman]

Anytime you turn the dirt you are turning seed under. Most NWR's and WMA's don't allow post harvest field work in the fall in their duck impoundments. Some people say it doesnt matter.

[donia]

Does doing this benifit duck hunting or not? Thats what im trying to figure out. Im not to smart when it comes to farming.
Like you see farmers crop the fields out, leave some acres standing for hunting and then burn the rest. But yet flood the whole field when everything else has been disked and then burnt. Basically making it a mud pit with water, the way I see it I guess. Then you have the couple of acres of crops still standing that are flooded.

no, most regular farming practices do not benefit duck hunters. in the economic situation we are in, yes more farmers have been giving way to duck hunters as a way to supplement the yearly income for the farm....the last decade and more hasn't been kind to farmers - the last couple of years, maybe, but you don't get into farming to concentrate on the short run outlook...you do what you can to help get you through the skinny years...if mother nature obliges, you get what you can get done....done!

[jsthntn]

I hate fall disking. Not only does it provide less food for wildlife, but allows for more runoff and chemicals to end up in our streams and rivers. Loose, exposed soil during our rainy winters will only end up getting washed into a nearby ditch and end up in our lakes (that's why they look like coffee). It is just one of those practices that has always been done and will continue to get done because "that's the way daddy did it". Farmer's like to complain about continually having to clean out ditches with a excavator and put lime and pot ash on fields. I really love it when I hear "that bayou used to be 6 feet deep and we could farm right down to the edge of it and not worry about it flooding our crops, and now it ain't even a foot deep, damn global warming". I just wished they could realize that they were doing it to themselves by allowing their top soil to wash away all winter long, and it would benefit us hunters as well as all types of wildlife. I AM OFF MY SOAP BOX NOW.

[driveby]

About the only grain ground I haven't seen broken up is the "flood beans" down near Carter/Yazoo City area. Most of those just got harvested.

There's a little bit up the road from you too. They just got our beans out Thursday.

[hillhunter]

It is just one of those practices that has always been done and will continue to get done because "that's the way daddy did it".

Sorry but this is way off. The way daddy did it was to leave the stubble in the field and wait till spring to worry about cutting up the land. Where I'm from (the hills) they almost never used to do fall tillage, now it is a common practice. Combine the current way of doing things with the machinery used now and there is little to no waste grain in the fields. Look at it from the farmers point of view. He can get all this done in the fall now, earning him a longer period to plant in the spring, and they can also get in earlier. What if it rains next feb and march and there is not time to get the ground worked, fertilized, and reworked... they will sure be glad they did it last fall.

And just say that you pick up ten extra bushels by being able to go in, get it planted early, and get out timely and before insect populations get their worst. Ten bushels at 12 dollar beans and seven dollar corn is real money.... money that a duckhole isn't going to generate. Thats 12,000 and 7,000 of extra income on 100 acres respectively, imagine the gain on 1,000 acres or 5,000. At commodity prices the way they are there is no reason for a farmer to wait until spring for the ducks or the deer or anything else. Most of them are running a business plain and simple, but I do know plenty of them that leave stuff for ducks and deer on some of the less productive land that is now only used for wildlife management and not in their crop production fields.

As far as the conservation side of it, farmers were the first and still are major advocates of conservation.

[jsthntn]

It is just one of those practices that has always been done and will continue to get done because "that's the way daddy did it".

Sorry but this is way off. The way daddy did it was to leave the stubble in the field and wait till spring to worry about cutting up the land. Where I'm from (the hills) they almost never used to do fall tillage, now it is a common practice. Combine the current way of doing things with the machinery used now and there is little to no waste grain in the fields. Look at it from the farmers point of view. He can get all this done in the fall now, earning him a longer period to plant in the spring, and they can also get in earlier. What if it rains next feb and march and there is not time to get the ground worked, fertilized, and reworked... they will sure be glad they did it last fall.

And just say that you pick up ten extra bushels by being able to go in, get it planted early, and get out timely and before insect populations get their worst. Ten bushels at 12 dollar beans and seven dollar corn is real money.... money that a duckhole isn't going to generate. Thats 12,000 and 7,000 of extra income on 100 acres respectively, imagine the gain on 1,000 acres or 5,000. At commodity prices the way they are there is no reason for a farmer to wait until spring for the ducks or the deer or anything else. Most of them are running a business plain and simple, but I do know plenty of them that leave stuff for ducks and deer on some of the less productive land that is now only used for wildlife management and not in their crop production fields.

As far as the conservation side of it, farmers were the first and still are major advocates of conservation.

I understand the reason for doing it, however 9 out of ten times they go back and disk in the spring also. I live in the delta and look at the same fields every year get chisel plowed and disked in the fall only to be run over with a disk and cultivator again in the spring. I have a little experience with this and could go into a long spill about it, but I'm not, that's not what this topic was started for.

[browning007]

My bean field this year has been disced after harvest...so does this actually hurt the hunting in the field or will it be the same if it hadn't been plowed under? Last year I hunted a rice field with the stubble still standing and it was the best year I've ever had.....all years before that the rice was rolled or burned and we had good hunting but nothing like last year. So it does seem to me that anything left on the ground would be better than discing, burning, or rolling.

[Wingman]

Let em do it however they can do it to make a crop. I just wish they'd hold water all winter, even the worked up fields. This really helps with erosion.

Years ago beans and cotton were sometimes getting harvested into December. No time for fall field work.

[Roach]

I just wish I had a couple of these fields ya'll are describing to hunt on no matter how the crops were removed, disced, burned, and flooded.

[digger]

I can see both side's but feel that if the farmer is going to take money for it as a duck lease he should leave something besides mud.With that being said my buddy has a place where we had really good hunting over mud 1yr.