Plant Food Plots on CRP Ground? You Bet!
By Brad Herndon
CRP are three letters
well-known to most deer hunters, especially those spending time on stand in
hilly regions. CRP stands for
Conservation Reserve Program. Established
in 1985, the CRP encourages farmers to voluntarily plant permanent areas of
grass and trees on land that needs protection from erosion, to act as
windbreaks, or in places where vegetation can improve water quality or provide
food and habitat for wildlife.
The benefits of the CRP are
numerous: Erosion control (millions of tons of topsoil are saved each year);
tree planting benefits (2 million acres of trees planted since 1986); and of
great interest to hunters, wildlife benefits.
Since CRP was started, significant increases in many different bird
species have been noted, along with increases in elk, mule deer, white-tailed
deer, and pronghorn populations.
Typically, a farmer signs a
contract to put qualifying farmland in the Conservation Reserve Program.
Eligible land includes highly erodible land and land that is suitable for
the following practices: filter strips, riparian buffers, shelter belts, grass
waterways, field windbreaks and living snow fences.
Most land entered in the CRP is hilly, erodible ground, typically
consisting of clay soil. The farmer is paid a certain amount per acre per year, and is
required to plant certain plants in the fields. Most contract lengths run from 10 to 15 years.
While many hunters are familiar
with CRP land, and that the government pays the farmer for taking the land out
of production, very few hunters—or landowners for that matter—realize that
CRP ground can be planted in food plots beneficial for wildlife.
Whether you’re a person owning land in the CRP program, or a hunter
leasing property, the ability to place food plots on CRP land opens up numerous
opportunities for both of you.
For example, even where a
farmer has much of his farmland in the CRP program, there almost always is some
of his land level enough for farming purposes.
He may own 800 farmable acres, and have only 400 acres of it in CRP. The rest may be in corn and soybeans. Of course, with 400 acres taken out of production, the deer
will really pour into his remaining soybean fields and take their toll on his
crops. Here’s where both the
landowner and the hunter leasing his ground can benefit.
You could, for instance, plant an area in Imperial Whitetail Clover, which would be even more appealing to the whitetails than soybeans. This would keep the deer healthy, let the bucks reach their highest antler potential, and pull the deer out of the farmer’s soybeans. This means more money in his pocket. And that, folks, makes for one happy farmer in these days of low farm commodity prices.
In addition, you can position
the food plot or plots in positions, which will assure the deer, move in travel
patterns advantageous to your stand positions.
With this thought in mind, let’s see what steps you need to go through
to see how many food plots you can plant on CRP land, the size they need to be,
the location of them, and what may be planted.
The first step in planting food
plots in CRP land is to contact the person you’re leasing your land from. Explain to him how food plots will pull deer away from his
farm crops and thereby reduce crop losses from deer browsing in his fields.
It’s also a good idea to explain how the food plots will benefit a
variety of wildlife, not just whitetails. This
could include wild turkey, quail, pheasant, other ground nesting birds, and
rabbits, among others. Almost
always a landowner will be receptive to the food plot idea.
When conducting this meeting
with the landowner, be sure you have aerial maps and topographical maps with you
of the region you’re leasing. This
way you can show to the property owner the locations you’re interested in
planting in food plots. Be sure, if
at all possible, to locate the food plots out of view of any road.
This will help protect your wildlife since any potential poachers won’t
be able to see what size bucks you’re growing.
It also helps prevent any “traffic jams” on the road near the
farmer’s house, which, as you can imagine, he wouldn’t find very
entertaining.
With this step being completed,
your next move is to contact your county Natural Resources Conservation Service,
(NCRS), a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture.
While the landowner will know the person he deals with there regarding
CRP ground and will have the phone number, you can find this information
yourself by looking under either Government Offices, or U.S. Government Offices
in the Yellow Pages. It may be
listed as Agricultural Service Center under these office headings.
In addition, if you’re on the Internet, you can obtain a tremendous
amount of CRP information there. I
type in www.in.nrcs.usda.gov for my
home state of Indiana. Simply type
in your state abbreviation in this address to open your state’s web site.
Once the NRCS is contacted, you
and the property owner will need to set up a meeting with them.
Obviously you want to do this in the farmer’s off-season.
This meeting is necessary to confirm that you are, in fact, the person
leasing the land, and that the landowner approves of what you want to do.
The NRCS field agent may want to walk the fields, but normally this
isn’t the case since he is already familiar with them.
The key here is for you to be
prepared at this meeting. Determine
beforehand how many acres of food plots you will be able to afford, the location
you desire them to be in, and what foods you are interested in planting.
Have your topographical maps and aerial maps along, and have the fields
you’re interest in planting highlighted.
Certainly you don’t want to waste either the landowner’s time, or the
field agent’s time by being unprepared.
While the Conservation Reserve
Program is highly receptive to wildlife management, when I first found out about
it, I was surprised to see how much you could actually plant in food plots. For example, on the Application for Wildlife Food Plots on
CRP, it lists some of the requirements for food plots on CRP ground.
These are in addition to those found in CRP Standard 645.
Regarding size, it states food plots will be at least ¼ acre in size, but not to exceed 5 acres per field. Interestingly, fields less than 5 acres in size can be planted entirely in food plots if it is surrounded by non-cultivated ground. Limits different from state to state, but my state does not allow more than 10% of the total CRP acreage on the farm to be in food plots. As you can see, the government allows plenty of ground to be utilized for wildlife food plots.
CRP food plots generally are to
be located on slopes of 5% or less. They
encourage reduced tillage or no-till planting of food plots.
Plots may be planted each year, provided they are no wider than 66 feet.
They may not be closer than 66 feet to another plot with the exception of
whole fields of less than 5 acres where the whole field is planted to food
plots. Cultivation, by the way, is allowed to control weeds.
Another point you will want to
consider is the fact the NRCS prefers for the food plots to be located close to
cover. This provides the wildlife
using the food plots with a quick escape should predators try to kill them.
I have found this to be no problem.
Oftentimes you can combine a location like this with a key terrain
feature to actually funnel deer past your stand.
An inside corner in a field is a prime example.
A variety of foods can be used
in your plots, including some of the top crops deer prefer.
Keep in mind, however, you will need to plant some crops beneficial to
other wildlife. The good news here
is the NCRS oftentimes has a free seed program you can take advantage of.
One concern you may have at this point is that some key crops, such as
Imperial Whitetail Clover, cannot be utilized since it does best on moist
ground, while most CRP land is high, dry, and well drained.
This is a valid concern, and
many sections of CRP ground will require the planting of a crop such as
Alfa-Rack, a plant which does extremely well in drier soil.
This is not to say you can’t plant Imperial Whitetail Clover in high,
CRP land. I’ve found most fields
to have a low, moist spot in them somewhere that the clover will do really well
in. A case in point happened when a
friend of mine found this type of location in one of his recently leased fields
last summer and planted it in Imperial Whitetail Clover around Sept. 1.
Unfortunately, Indiana was
experiencing one of its worst droughts in history.
The ground was hard when we planted the clover, and only two-tenths of an
inch of rain fell during the month of September.
At the end of September, I looked this field over with my friend and was
amazed to see the Imperial Whitetail Clover was growing.
It was small, granted, but it had come up. Still, it didn’t seem too significant to either of us.
When the evening of Oct 1
rolled around—the first day of archery season—my friend positioned his tree
stand in a fencerow to see if any whitetails were using the field of clover.
At 5:25 pm, nearly 1 ½ hours before dark, 16 deer were browsing in the 1
¼ acre plot! He was astonished,
and so was I.
This showed us, and it should
show you, what incredible results can be obtained when you plant succulent food
plots in CRP ground.
I think you will find this
opens a whole new deer management world to both a landowner and to hunters
leasing property.
Take advantage of this great
opportunity, and please let us here at the Whitetail Institute know of your
successes in your CRP food plots.
Interesting Side Notes
An acre of ground contains
43,560 square feet, meaning a square acre is roughly 209 feet x 209 feet.
If you plant a food plot 100 feet in width (perfect for an archer), it
would need to be 436 feet in length to contain an acre.
Of course you can divide this up any way you want, but what this does for
you is it allows you to determine your acreage, and how much seed, lime,
fertilizer and spray you might need to take care of the plot.
To have quality food plots for
deer, you need to become a good farmer. Much
free information is available to help you become one.
Extension Agent Co-operatives are located in each county and are there to
educate and inform. Soil test
packets can be picked up there, and they have brochures on about any farming
subject you can think of. They also
have Agriculturally & Natural Resources Educators who will answer any
questions you may have. Look under
Government Offices-County in the Yellow Pages to find them.
They are an extension of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Natural Resources Conservation Services, also an arm of the USDA, is set up to administer farm programs. They also have much free information available to the hunter interested in food plot management, including what can be planted on CRP ground. Maps showing the different types of soils within a county are carried by them. They’re free to the public. Look in the Yellow Pages under Government Offices, or Government Offices—US. They may be listed in various ways, such as Soil Conservation Service, Agricultural Service Center, or USDA Service Center. In addition, if you’re on the Internet, you can obtain a tremendous amount of CRP information there. I type in www.in.nrcs.usda.gov for my home state of Indiana. Simply type in your state abbreviation in this address to open your state’s web site.
Several small food plots are
better than one large plot. Since
all wild animals establish dominance, several small plots present feeding
opportunities to all the wildlife, whether they are dominant or subordinate.
Several small tracts, placed strategically, can also help to establish
predictable deer travel patterns.
Plat books showing the
ownership of the property in the county you desire to hunt usually can be
obtained at the county courthouse. Many
Farm Bureaus Cooperatives also carry them.
They can even be ordered from the printer selling them to the county.
For best results, though, and
100% order fill, contact U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Information Services,
P.O. Box 25286, Denver, CO 80225, phone 888-275-8747, fax 303-202-4693.
Aerial maps can be obtained, as a rule, from the county surveyor. If not available there, they will know where they can be purchased locally. If not available locally, call U.S. Department of Agriculture, Aerial Photography Field Office, 2222 West 2300 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119, phone 801-975-3503. You will need to specify the state and county you are interested in. Telling them the latitude and longitude of your lease will also get you what you need. Prices vary depending on size. Shipping and handling is extra. In addition to these addresses, aerial survey companies do have aerial maps, but check price first; they can be expensive from them.