Baling CRP due to drought- my 2 cents…

[Sligh1]

Gotten about dozen farmer calls wanting to bale my CRP. & pile of buddies asking if they should bale theirs.
1) keep in mind- it’s probably pulling out $30-50 worth of nutrients out of the ground when you bale that!!!! P&k, micros, calcium & organic matter. It’s far from free to take bales off your land!!!!! Hardest practice on mining soil & taking fertility out is baling.
2) your cover is gone!!!!!!
3) u can’t legally get paid. Guys walk off with big value in hay & nutrients & u lose those nutrients. If the program said “farmers can pay landowners back $50/acre for fertility replenishment” that would be one thing. But folks don’t go down that road.
4) “it helps clean up the land”. Go take a batwing out & spend a couple hours on trouble spots. Takes nothing off the land & also cleans it up if that’s an issue

My 2 cents…. Be careful if any of you are entertaining this. It’s COSTLY to you & wildlife. “JUST SAY NO!!!!” . IMO.

 

[Bassattackr]

Agree 100%!

My neighbor thinks he's getting a great deal because another farmer bales his alfalfa so he doesn't have to mow it..

What an epic deal that guy is getting! Expensive loss in nutrients!

 

[Hardwood11]

I must be missing something. In my area of Minnesota, the best looking CRP I have is where the farmer baled my CRP grasses. It looks ideal and weed free ?

This is on maybe 10 acres. I would not allow it all to be cut, but I have not seen any real downside to smaller 5-10 acre cuts.

Maybe it’s a Minnesota thing ? Also the deer feed in the new growth after a couple August/September rains ?

 

[Bassattackr]

Ok, I'll bite..

Consider switchgrass yield (pure stand) is about 7 tons / ac. Being CRP maybe you have 2 tons / ac of total NWSG removal via baling.

That's 24# P, 116# K of removal, per acre.

Consider Red Potash 0-0-60 is about $30 / bag, with DAP (18-46-0) being similar. 1 bag DAP (23# P) + 4 bags Red Potash (120# K) is approx. $150 / acre (plus tax) of fertilizer required to remove the MACRO nutrients only..

Baling 10 acres is quite the "favor" to you. To the tune of costing you over $1,500 of fertility loss every time he does it.

 

[Sligh1]

I must be missing something. In my area of Minnesota, the best looking CRP I have is where the farmer baled my CRP grasses. It looks ideal and weed free ?

This is on maybe 10 acres. I would not allow it all to be cut, but I have not seen any real downside to smaller 5-10 acre cuts.

Maybe it’s a Minnesota thing ? Also the deer feed in the new growth after a couple August/September rains ?

Light it on fire next spring. Better results & not pulling all those nutrients off of the farm.

 

[bwese]

Its good to bale crp if it has been taken over by brome. It allows a good kill of cool season grasses and the next year the crp comes back with more warm season grasses and lots of forbs.

 

[RepCity_BK]

Its good to bale crp if it has been taken over by brome. It allows a good kill of cool season grasses and the next year the crp comes back with more warm season grasses and lots of forbs.

We are doing this in south central Nebraska this fall on about 50 acres total in three separate fields. In the past we have done spring burns for management with good results, but we are reenrolling into an expiring CP2 contract into a CP38D. After drilling in the new seed mixes in early spring I expect that the next couple of years these fields will have some awesome diversity in them with forbs and nwsg. We are mainly focusing on quail habitat as these are in an upland setting. A few deer do use these fields but its seasonal.

 

[T_Max]

Its good to bale crp if it has been taken over by brome. It allows a good kill of cool season grasses and the next year the crp comes back with more warm season grasses and lots of forbs.

I think timing has a lot to do with that. If you bale it early enough that the NWSG has time to grow and crowd the brome you are good. If you get a little late where the NWSG puts on little new growth and the brome has all fall to jump on it it could have a negative effect.

 

[bwese]

I think timing has a lot to do with that. If you bale it early enough that the NWSG has time to grow and crowd the brome you are good. If you get a little late where the NWSG puts on little new growth and the brome has all fall to jump on it it could have a negative effect.

Good point, I forgot to add that spraying glyphosate after the first or second hard frost is an integral part of this equation. It stone cold kills the brome competition. The nrcs gives permission for this on the crp acres. They in fact encourage it when I've baled.

 

[T_Max]

Good point, I forgot to add that spraying glyphosate after the first or second hard frost is an integral part of this equation. It stone cold kills the brome competition. The nrcs gives permission for this on the crp acres. They in fact encourage it when I've baled.

I think that gly is super crucial if you bale it. Timing is everything.

 

[Hardwood11]

One of my farms is 1 hour away and I don’t have a batwing mower. So 5-8 acres of hay for him, he cuts my thistles and also makes access trails for me.

I am not trying to disregard the theory , but I actually think it’s fair, in this situation.

 

[Sligh1]

Good point, I forgot to add that spraying glyphosate after the first or second hard frost is an integral part of this equation. It stone cold kills the brome competition. The nrcs gives permission for this on the crp acres. They in fact encourage it when I've baled.

I did this one new farm I bought this spring. Was brome carpet. Early before natives up I hit it with heavy gly & ams. I left a patch to see the difference. It’s insane!!!! Area I sprayed is “wildlife paradise” & full of tall natives, forbs & some weeds. Area I left is stunted natives with very few forbs. Gly timed right is amazing. Or rather, NUKED BROME allows other things to flourish!!

 

[T_Max]

I did this one new farm I bought this spring. Was brome carpet. Early before natives up I hit it with heavy gly & ams. I left a patch to see the difference. It’s insane!!!! Area I sprayed is “wildlife paradise” & full of tall natives, forbs & some weeds. Area I left is stunted natives with very few forbs. Gly timed right is amazing. Or rather, NUKED BROME allows other things to flourish!!

Were those things already suppressed in the seedbed? Or did you supplement it? Just curious. I am going to nuke some brome this fall and don't have enough NWSG seed to plant it all. Thinking of just seeing what comes up.

 

[Sligh1]

Were those things already suppressed in the seedbed? Or did you supplement it? Just curious. I am going to nuke some brome this fall and don't have enough NWSG seed to plant it all. Thinking of just seeing what comes up.

There were “some” native plants. No doubt. I would say “both”.
I have a picture of what grew up after spraying. It doesn't look like much from this photo. But- when u dig in, absolutely is far better.
If a guy wanted to interseed…. Burn down with gly & could add imazapic if u wanted to interseed stuff like: BB, Indian, lil blue, IL bundle flower, partridge pea, etc. Or interseed “whatever” & clip it once or twice.
Not a great photo & it’s way taller now. But- it’s far better than year before!!! This pic was about 30 days after spraying gly. Can see a few old clumps of natives if look close.

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

Agree with Skip and others... generally bad idea. As others have pointed out, it has its place if done strategically.

On one farm I am recommending they bale it now. It's a mess. The absolute best time to spray CRP is fall. It can be done in spring, but fall is much better. So, we are going to sacrifice one year of cover for long term WAY better CRP. Bale now. Spray this fall. Gly and Duracor. Duracor has spring carry over for broadleaf. After we get it all cleaned up and nothing but NWSG, we can look at re-introducing forbs.

 

[Hardwood11]

Alright, so if I did bale 5 acres of CRP. What would be some options to get the fertility or nutrients back in that area ?

 

[Sligh1]

Alright, so if I did bale 5 acres of CRP. What would be some options to get the fertility or nutrients back in that area ?

So a person “can’t be paid for bales” or something along those lines. The right thing to do…. The value of those bales… a portion of that value should be put back with p&k at a minimum. Is someone going to put p&k back on CRP? Most probably won’t. It’s the right thing to do though. Whenever that ground is farmed - someday that nutrient loss is gonna be paid for one way or another.

 

[Duckriver]

Not that it truly matters....
Crp manual was updated February 2023 to allow for "selling hay and grazing privileges. "
So you may want to ask about that at your local fsa office.
Be aware that managed haying/grazing is different than emergency having/grazing to fsa.
Fsa is much more open to allowing management of crp than ever before.
Beginning farmers can graze all crp outside the nesting season without a payment reduction.

 

[JNRBRONC]

LOTS of acres of CRP getting mowed and baled in my area. Haven't spoken to anyone involved for the low down on the arrangement. The CRP mowed across the road should increase deer movement for me, less for them to bed and hide in. Wonder what the out of state lease holder thinks of it getting mowed?

 

[Muddyrem]

Not that it truly matters....
Crp manual was updated February 2023 to allow for "selling hay and grazing privileges. "
So you may want to ask about that at your local fsa office.
Be aware that managed haying/grazing is different than emergency having/grazing to fsa.
Fsa is much more open to allowing management of crp than ever before.
Beginning farmers can graze all crp outside the nesting season without a payment reduction.

I just don’t understand the logic behind this. What’s the point of CRP then? Why not just put it into improved pasture and be done with it? Seems like CRP today is just a bale out for land owners on “poorer” soils. It has nothing to do with soil management or habitat, or these practices wouldn’t be in place. I understand mowing or burning for broadleaf control but mowing every acre or even 1/3rd every year just makes absolutely zero sense. Government bail out at its finest………