CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

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Redman232
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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby Redman232 » Sat Feb 06, 2016 12:58 pm

Stanley wrote:The farms that I hunt are much more productive deer wise with agriculture crops compared to CRP. As I look at your aerial I would say you would be better off with agriculture fields than CRP. That said I know it is hard to get someone to farm smaller areas. I would also bet you could get more income for crop ground compared to CRP.


Ver interesting, in my area it is almost the exact opposite, but we only have small broken woodlots and lots of ag, if you've got CRP here you've got a lot of deer.

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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Feb 07, 2016 1:04 pm

Redman232 wrote:
Stanley wrote:The farms that I hunt are much more productive deer wise with agriculture crops compared to CRP. As I look at your aerial I would say you would be better off with agriculture fields than CRP. That said I know it is hard to get someone to farm smaller areas. I would also bet you could get more income for crop ground compared to CRP.


Ver interesting, in my area it is almost the exact opposite, but we only have small broken woodlots and lots of ag, if you've got CRP here you've got a lot of deer.

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Stanley I think I'm with Redman on this one. I'm not saying you're wrong with your viewpoint... deer behave differently in different parts of the country.

My area is tons of ag and few small riverbottoms, wood lots, groves, slews, fence lines, etc.

Most of the grassy areas around here are brome grass. The few areas I know of that contain big blue stem all have a lot of deer in them. We talk about structure all the time on the beast, and I think the BBS is the "something different" in a lot of cases. There's definitely a draw... also they do browse it a lot. When I checked a camera last week at 1:00 p.m. there were 6 deer up and browsing in the BBS CRP field. It's not just bedding its food too.
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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby dan » Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:52 am

I just found this post, and I am quite busy so I only read the origanal post, so for give me if I repeat someone..

If your in Ohio hill country I would expect your primary buck bedding to be on the leeward hills along the Military crest. I would expect primary do bedding to be just above that elevation. So that creates the question of "What would adding grass help?" And, your going to get stuck into a contract you cant get out of...

Scouting peoples properties and coming up with plans one of the biggest road blocks I have run into is people stuck in CRP programs having wasted space they can't utilize.

When you rent it as crops you can still put food plots where ever you want, you can still plant grass borders for cover, you can put in as many, or as big of plots as you want, and place them where ever... I am sure you make more money renting too, rather than CRP wasted space.

If your looking to make your property better, the logging your planning is likely your best opportunity. If its select cut, and you have a choice in whats getting cut, for me it would be doing the select harvest on the tops right up the the military crest an d creating that bedding and rut cruising transition. Furthermore, most guys want to leave all the oaks and fight with the loggers about it... Around the bedding points I would remove all the oaks, but I would leave some just far enough back where you can hunt... Last thing you want is oaks in a bedding area where the bucks don't have to come out till after dark.
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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:05 am

I think standing corn is good, but I have never seen a properly laid out CRP field using the right grass selection be a waste. Quite the opposite. It draws and holds deer really well. Especially big bucks. You can also plant food plots in up to 10% of the area enrolled in CRP. Most CRP fields I see are not set up properly for deer hunting. Very few of them in fact, but they still hold some nice bucks in a lot of situations. I love a CRP mix that is mostly Cave In Rock switch grass. I don't have experience with CRP in hill country, but I know if CRP is done right it can be dynamite. You have to be sure to lay it out right because like Dan said, it's a relatively long term contract.
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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby medicsnoke » Fri Aug 18, 2017 1:59 pm

Update to this post:

Last fall my loggers completed timber cutting. As noted they did some clear cuts, select cut and in some areas deferment cuts. It has opened the canopy up for sunlight but the new growth has been slow. I see next year being the year that everything fills back in. I used some of the money from logging and put in a pond for recreation and year round water source.
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I signed the CRP contract in the fall also and planted this past spring. About 3 weeks ago I completed the first year, mid-season mowing per contract. Before that mowing I couldn't hardly see any warm season grasses. But this week in Ohio we've had some hot weather and rain and man did things take off. The deer are already bedding in the fields and think this was a good move. I put in a 2 acre clover plot and 6 acres of standing beans to substitute the loss of Agricultural production. Should be a good fall.
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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby hammer » Fri Aug 18, 2017 3:53 pm

Thanks for the update Corey. That looks like a beautiful spot you've got there! I recently signed a CRP contract and have been trying to gather as much info as possible as this will be my first experience with a planting. Could you share your thoughts on planting during the spring vs fall? I've read a fair amount of opinions on this and I feel like it's split down the middle. Half swear by spring planting, the other half is convinced you need to plant in the fall.
I'm in SE MN and the program requires ten nwsg and five Forbes. Any input or opinions on the subject are much appreciated! Thanks
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Re: CRP/ Warm Season Grass Plantings

Unread postby Bigburner » Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:23 am

Looks like you made yourself a nice spot there :handgestures-thumbup: Don't worry about the regen in timbered areas it will come back in due time and you will be better for it.
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