Hearing a lot of folks talking about getting out of corn bean rotation and planting mostly corn thanks to ethanol and $4 a bushel. I am worried in my area more corn will mean less deer movement and sightings until harvest nears completion. May change how I hunt, may make putting in plots a little more worthwhile to draw them in. Any thoughts?
dbltree
Super Moderator
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Hearing a lot of folks talking about getting out of corn bean rotation and planting mostly corn thanks to ethanol and $4 a bushel. I am worried in my area more corn will mean less deer movement and sightings until harvest nears completion. May change how I hunt, may make putting in plots a little more worthwhile to draw them in. Any thoughts?
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I think you are exactly right, although most farmers in my area arn't willing to go all corn just yet.
I think it is "the future" though and will affect all of us...unless you hunt somewhere in this state...that has no corn!
IMO it's almost impossible to beat the attraction of corn...unless it's with more corn
I've been growing every possible combination for a long long time...and if I don't have corn...and they combine corn next door...I'm SOL
If you have "safe" hidden areas then any lush green plot is going to get hit.
I have yet to kill a mature buck anywhere near my foodplots...it's the does they are after and some are going to hit whatever you plant regardless.
Field after field of freshly combined corn stubble though...means doe groups are spread out and bucks travel freely between them.
Best have a stand on a good travel corridor
If you can't plant corn then your going to get a multitude of possible answers.
Just make sure it's going to be there at the time you want to hunt.
Oats and clover are earlier, wheat, rye, alfalfa and brassicas all season.
Hearing a lot of folks talking about getting out of corn bean rotation and planting mostly corn thanks to ethanol and $4 a bushel. I am worried in my area more corn will mean less deer movement and sightings until harvest nears completion. May change how I hunt, may make putting in plots a little more worthwhile to draw them in. Any thoughts?
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I think you are exactly right, although most farmers in my area arn't willing to go all corn just yet.
I think it is "the future" though and will affect all of us...unless you hunt somewhere in this state...that has no corn!
IMO it's almost impossible to beat the attraction of corn...unless it's with more corn
I've been growing every possible combination for a long long time...and if I don't have corn...and they combine corn next door...I'm SOL
If you have "safe" hidden areas then any lush green plot is going to get hit.
I have yet to kill a mature buck anywhere near my foodplots...it's the does they are after and some are going to hit whatever you plant regardless.
Field after field of freshly combined corn stubble though...means doe groups are spread out and bucks travel freely between them.
Best have a stand on a good travel corridor
If you can't plant corn then your going to get a multitude of possible answers.
Just make sure it's going to be there at the time you want to hunt.
Oats and clover are earlier, wheat, rye, alfalfa and brassicas all season.
Central Iowa
Life Member
Your right it does make early season tough. I would adjust your early sets in wooded draws leading to corn, as well as brushy timbered fence rows in the corn. I have also sat back in the corn on grassy water ways and had good luck.
FarmlandQDM
New Member
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I am worried in my area more corn will mean less deer movement and sightings until harvest nears completion. May change how I hunt, may make putting in plots a little more worthwhile to draw them in. Any thoughts?
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I think the bigger issue of concern is the long term decline in habitat we will see with increased corn production.
I know Senator Harkin and others are talking up switchgrass for use in biofuels as an alternative to corn ... which I assume some think is a more wildlife friendly option ... it would be better for soil erosion and water quality, but the benefit of switchgrass is mostly for fall/winter hiding and thermal cover. I'm not sure that 3 or 4 inches of switchgrass stuble after it is cut in September will be very usefull for any wildlife species ... unless they have a high powered rifle and a good spotlight ...
I am worried in my area more corn will mean less deer movement and sightings until harvest nears completion. May change how I hunt, may make putting in plots a little more worthwhile to draw them in. Any thoughts?
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I think the bigger issue of concern is the long term decline in habitat we will see with increased corn production.
I know Senator Harkin and others are talking up switchgrass for use in biofuels as an alternative to corn ... which I assume some think is a more wildlife friendly option ... it would be better for soil erosion and water quality, but the benefit of switchgrass is mostly for fall/winter hiding and thermal cover. I'm not sure that 3 or 4 inches of switchgrass stuble after it is cut in September will be very usefull for any wildlife species ... unless they have a high powered rifle and a good spotlight ...
FarmlandQDM
New Member
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... just think of the bio-engineering that will be going on if the switch grass angle comes through. We might be able to take advantage of that, imagine 12' tall switch grass varieties!
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It would likely be great for hiding deer but I would be very apprehensive about turning loose any grass that can grow 12 foot tall. Sounds like it could have the potential to become the phragmites of upland habitat ... which would not be a good thing.
Burning 12 foot tall switch would be quite a job too ... firebreaks generally should be 3 times the fuel height ...
... 36 foot firelines ...
... just think of the bio-engineering that will be going on if the switch grass angle comes through. We might be able to take advantage of that, imagine 12' tall switch grass varieties!
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It would likely be great for hiding deer but I would be very apprehensive about turning loose any grass that can grow 12 foot tall. Sounds like it could have the potential to become the phragmites of upland habitat ... which would not be a good thing.
Burning 12 foot tall switch would be quite a job too ... firebreaks generally should be 3 times the fuel height ...
Benny
New Member
Switchgrass is a native prairie plant, it is not an exotic.
I think the largest benefit would be improved wildlife habitat in terms of increased nesting habitat for upland birds and more importantly water quality benefits for aquatic resources by reducing soil erosion and increasing groundwater infiltration.
Corn will never go away, but it would be nice to see the ethanol technology steer towards switchgrass rather than plowing every fallow field into row crops such as corn.
The farmer can still make his money either way and he or she might as well do it to improve fish and wildlife habitat at the same time.
I think the largest benefit would be improved wildlife habitat in terms of increased nesting habitat for upland birds and more importantly water quality benefits for aquatic resources by reducing soil erosion and increasing groundwater infiltration.
Corn will never go away, but it would be nice to see the ethanol technology steer towards switchgrass rather than plowing every fallow field into row crops such as corn.
The farmer can still make his money either way and he or she might as well do it to improve fish and wildlife habitat at the same time.
FarmlandQDM
New Member
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Switchgrass is a native prairie plant, it is not an exotic.
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Some varieties of switchgrass are native prairie plants but a bio-engineered variety of switch that grows twelve feet tall does not naturally exist in Iowa.
There are many native varieties of fescue in Iowa that are beneficial woodland and grassland plants. The bio-engineered tall fescue of the K31 variety devestated large areas of quail and pheasant habitat in southern Iowa and Missouri after it was "turned loose" as the next best thing.
Switchgrass makes great habitat in some areas but a variety of switch that is not native to Iowa, which has the competitive advantage that enables it to grow twelve feet in one year, might just be another next best thing that we end up regretting after a few years of living with it.
Switchgrass is a native prairie plant, it is not an exotic.
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Some varieties of switchgrass are native prairie plants but a bio-engineered variety of switch that grows twelve feet tall does not naturally exist in Iowa.
There are many native varieties of fescue in Iowa that are beneficial woodland and grassland plants. The bio-engineered tall fescue of the K31 variety devestated large areas of quail and pheasant habitat in southern Iowa and Missouri after it was "turned loose" as the next best thing.
Switchgrass makes great habitat in some areas but a variety of switch that is not native to Iowa, which has the competitive advantage that enables it to grow twelve feet in one year, might just be another next best thing that we end up regretting after a few years of living with it.
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Switchgrass makes great habitat in some areas but a variety of switch that is not native to Iowa, which has the competitive advantage that enables it to grow twelve feet in one year, might just be another next best thing that we end up regretting after a few years of living with it.
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Actually I was just making a joke about the 12' switchgrass. Hell, I can hardly walk through the 6' CIR I have now, but if that technology takes off I would be surprised if they dont come up with varieties with higher yields.
Switchgrass makes great habitat in some areas but a variety of switch that is not native to Iowa, which has the competitive advantage that enables it to grow twelve feet in one year, might just be another next best thing that we end up regretting after a few years of living with it.
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Actually I was just making a joke about the 12' switchgrass. Hell, I can hardly walk through the 6' CIR I have now, but if that technology takes off I would be surprised if they dont come up with varieties with higher yields.
FarmlandQDM
New Member
The University of Texas has developed switchgrass for biofuel that can grow twelve feet tall ... we just don't have it in Iowa ... yet.