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Retiring hay field

arm

arm

Leg
Lots of exciting physical work to come...lots of tough decisions to make beforehand. I have a 20ac hay field that I want to retire; I'd much rather have it doing something else instead the little rent it brings. Would like the bulk of it turned to cover and leave some room for a nice sized plot. The field is pretty much one side of a hill/ridge and the top running SW to NE; making it a NW facing slope. The other side is already mature timber and completes out the 40 that this hay field sits on. The slope is very visible from the gravel (look over from the road and boom, wide open hay field against the skyline) starting about 100 yrds off. Gravel road gets decent traffic as its a shortcut for a lot of folks cutting between two pavements.

I've been reading doubletree's corner and have an appointment with district forester in a couple weeks. All the info I need to make cover is there...but...with such a visible area, is trying to hold deer there really going to work well? I'm imagining thick screening at the bottom off the gravel so i can walk the road in, then rows at the bottom of taller trees and then thick of cedars and shrubs on the side. A south facing slope would help but unfortunately not the case. How neat would it be if someone on here already circumvented this exact scenario!?!?
 
U would have comfy deer even with visibility into it. As long as there's no habits of guys firing guns into it from the road- deer will adapt to traffic. I'd do some cedars and shrubs for sure. Areas like that - thicken up over Time and u won't even realize deer r in there or even see em. They will find the security. Food plots out of furthest view & in areas advantageous to u hunting them undected. Cover on rest where u wouldn't have to walk through cover to hunt. I don't mind skirting edge though. Cedars, shrubs, hardwoods u r lacking. Apple, pear, persimmon, chestnuts, etc. Native grasses, forbs, the list could never end. I'd pay attention to soil types to determine what may grow well. Long long discussion and starting in dbltree section will be a a great start. Diversity is always a great approach. 20 acres is a lot to play with. Screen off for security would be #1 and then go from there.
 
My $0.05 worth: Pick the area for your food plot in a secluded spot hopefully one with good soil (and close to timber). Then put the rest of it in switch grass, preferably Cave-In-Rock variety. Anything else you do as far as trees, bushes etc is optional. Good luck & have fun.
 
Thanks guys! I'm not sure about CRP...I'll have to see what program it would be eligible for and hope the forester can help me there. He did the contracts on the rest of the farm a few years ago
 
A nice screen and then CRP or switchgrass would be good!

Cedars, shrubs and then maybe some swamp white oak on backside??
 
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I do believe for CRP you have to have a recent 4 year cropping history between the years of 2008-2014. That is for the high paying stuff, there may be another program I am not aware of.
 
Just curious for the guys that have created habitat out of bare ground like this....how many years will it take for this ground to be fruitful after the improvements are made? I'm asking because it's something I've considered myself.
 
Ried#3 said:
Just curious for the guys that have created habitat out of bare ground like this....how many years will it take for this ground to be fruitful after the improvements are made? I'm asking because it's something I've considered myself.
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Switchgrass would be awesome by the 2nd year.

I did this to a 2 acre open area. Frost seeded switchgrass and had a decent stand the first year and by the second year it was up to my head and very thick.
 
MNbuckhunter said:
Switchgrass would be awesome by the 2nd year.

I did this to a 2 acre open area. Frost seeded switchgrass and had a decent stand the first year and by the second year it was up to my head and very thick.
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Did you kill off the vegetation in the fall before you frost seeded?
 
arm said:
Did you kill off the vegetation in the fall before you frost seeded?
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Yes, I sprayed it with glyphosate throughout summer and then hit it with a mix of gly and oust xp in October. Basically controlled at weeds until middle of next summer when the switchgrass was emerging.

Refer to Dbltree corner in he switchgrass thread. It lays everything out for you. I followed it to a "T" and had a great switch field in 2 years.
 
Ried#3 said:
I do believe for CRP you have to have a recent 4 year cropping history between the years of 2008-2014. That is for the high paying stuff, there may be another program I am not aware of.
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No idea. The CRP I have now is riparian buffer along ditch/creek and wetland program; both were never cropped but were mowed and put up. I don't think there are too many programs but still don't know what's available. If anyone knows, that would be awesome. Else I just have to wait for my appt.
 
Even if it won't qualify for CRP you can get money for NWSG through the prairie partners program. Ask the your local NRCS office for the paperwork.
 
You have to call your local county NRCS office. They can check to see if you qualify for CRP. Sometimes hay or alfalfa qualifies, but it depends. Income and habitat is a nice combo.
 
Use switch for quick cover but definitely concentrate on cedars/shrubs starting closest to the road. Plums and highbush cranberry are 2 of my favorites as they form thickets and get pretty tall. Throw some hardwoods in like skip said, and fruit bearing trees along your plot area. Would be fun to start with a blank canvas like that.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Even if it won't qualify for CRP you can get money for NWSG through the prairie partners program. Ask the your local NRCS office for the paperwork.
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Good info

Hardwood11 said:
You have to call your local county NRCS office. They can check to see if you qualify for CRP. Sometimes hay or alfalfa qualifies, but it depends. Income and habitat is a nice combo.
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There was a type prairie ground program that focused on pasture and hay ground but enrollment ended <a month ago. The top tier for for hay was only $30 or so pymt; would have done that had i been thinking about this earlier. NRCS had no idea if it would come back for another round

I appreciate alls advise about getting quick cover mixed with long-term!
 
Call your NRCS's private lands biologist. They will come out for free. Schedule a meeting. My biggest thing, kinda repeating myself.... Security from shooting, making deer feel comfy, etc and then - DIVERSITY. with 20 acres, man, if it were MINE & all I cared about was deer & habitat.... Geesh, 5-7 acres Native grasses & forbs (maybe half the area is straight switch, the other half is a mix), 5-7 acres tree plantings.... shrubs, cedars, hardwoods, fruit trees, etc. - really protecting them and babying them. Rest in food plots.
Yep, you wanna kill in fall. It can be done in spring but you've got way less work with a prepared fall kill. Good luck.
 
I have 7 acres of alfalfa that I want to convert to prairie in the next 2 years. My plan though, is to rip it up and put it in Ag for 1-2 years to cut down on the seed bank of weeds. Then frost seed in the Prairie grasses. I didn't see where dbltree did this, but I would think that seeding this way will get a lot of seed to soil contact the first year, rather than the thick thatch of smoked alfalfa. ???
 
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