Letting farmland grow up

I own 80 acres or so of land that I'm thinking about letting grow up or set trees out on. 30 acres or so of it is already woods the rest is in crop land. I would like to let it grow up or set trees out to maybe have better hunting land. The fields are exposed to the highway where all the road riders can look and poach off may land. I want to be able to close it in plus have more places to hunt, also I think it would help hold more deer. Are there any programs for land management on this or does this make good money sense for the future? Kind of unsure of letting land grow up that my grandfather worked so hard years ago to clear.

I cant answer your question about programs but I call tell you a story on my experience with CRP land in Ohio. The farm I hunted up there had several fields along the road that was in this program. Much like you seeing deer from the road was a issue. With this land being in that program it held deer close to the road and every year we found dead bucks in those fields. Never found any does..always bucks...including one buck that scored in the 160s. Landowner took it out of the program for personal reasons the last two years. He hated the government telling him what to do with his land...although they paid him to let it grow up. Didn't make sense to me for him to take it out since it paid his property taxes every year. Heck it was free money but it was his land, so his choice. When he took it out...we stop finding dead deer in those fields. Granted his land set down in a hole from the road and it made deer easier to see but that program held deer closer to the road which in turn made them more vulnerable to poachers. The CPR program has strict guidelines about mowing and such..landowner mowed it when he wasn't suppose to and they caught him for it. There was some fines and I think this was his main reason for wanting out. Might want to check with the county and see what programs are available for you.

The CRP program is great, as long as it meets your objectives and management abilities. As far as the government telling you what to do; remember, you are entering into a contract and taking payment for the use of the land. Make sure you know the payments, management requirements and other details before you sign. Depending on what county you are in and site conditions there could be several enrollment options. If you enroll, make sure the habitat is designed to your satisfaction. Just like any other business transaction, if you don't understand the product ask more questions and document the answers you receive. It might be good to look at property enrolled in similar programs to see what works the best for you. Many folks get a sour taste because they simply sign-up looking for free money, and pay no attention to the contract requirements. I researched several programs a few years back for my family's property. We could not get everyone to agree on how to move forward at that time.

The NCWRC have staff which are very familiar with CRP and other funding programs that might be able to help give you some ideas. Pretty good info and contact info for Wildlife Habitat Program in a past Upland Gazette http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Conserving/documents/UplandGazette/Fall-2015-Upland-Gazette.pdf

Thanks guys

Not sure what county you are from by what you have said you have about 50ac farm land. Around here that would rent 5k to 7k total a yr for farming. at that rate and price of hunting leases you could probably rent 500 or 600 acres of land to hunt for what you would get out of the farm rent.

Just plant buffers with loblolly pines to hide the crop land from the roads. Maybe leave 10-12 acres for a thicket buffer beside pines and rent the rest of the crop land or use it to plant foodplot fields if you can afford it. I would not rent it out and lease someone else land to hunt. Leasing land does not guarantee you a place to hunt EVERY year. You can control your property. In 3-5 years you can see the results.... 2 weeks ago I had my hunting neighbors come by and talk to me and actually was thanking me for all the work I had done on my farm in Rockingham county. He told me that before I bought that place all the deer they would see was and I quote ' junk all we had around here was junk '. 4 years of planting foodplots and not shooting everything that walks has paid off for me and the neighbors.

5 Shot said:

I own 80 acres or so of land that I'm thinking about letting grow up or set trees out on. 30 acres or so of it is already woods the rest is in crop land. I would like to let it grow up or set trees out to maybe have better hunting land. The fields are exposed to the highway where all the road riders can look and poach off may land. I want to be able to close it in plus have more places to hunt, also I think it would help hold more deer. Are there any programs for land management on this or does this make good money sense for the future? Kind of unsure of letting land grow up that my grandfather worked so hard years ago to clear.

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If your property is currently in agriculture then I bet your are in the PUV program which means your property tax is very reduced, if you pull it out of agriculture and don't put it in a program, the tax man is going to hammer you! (Trust me, I know from experience). There are a couple of programs (not just CRP, although that will qualify for reduced tax I think), before I made a decision about taking it out of agriculture I would absolutely talk with someone. You should follow para4514's advice and contact your local wildlife biologist or the tax office in your county, they are familiar with these things. Of course if the property is not enrolled in the PUV program then you are already paying full tax so it wouldn't be any difference.

CRP is the only program that will "stand alone" for the reduced tax program. Other financial assistance programs through USDA still require production to meet the $1000 dollar per year income requirement.

The Wildlife Conservation Lands Program can provide a property tax savings (same as the Agriculture PUV) for management of a significant habitat or priority species.
More info can be found at http://www.ncwildlife.org/Conserving/Programs/LandConservationProgram.aspx

From my past experience many county tax offices are not excited about reducing property tax revenue, so take their info with a grain of salt.

What county are you in? I work for the Conservation Service in Edgecombe County. Would be happy to talk sometime. Production of trees via a management plan will qualify you for PUV also.

Go to the Dept. of Revenue website NCDOR then to the local gov't section. All you need to know about PUV (PUV Manual) is there.

Plant pine trees.

Everyone else does.

Then you can harvest them for timber later.

PM hrcarver and get some Egyptian wheat seed. Plow and plant a buffer strip along the roads at your place. It grows tall {12+ feet} and thick if you sow a strip 10 feet wide along the roads.
He still had seed the last time I talked to him [early turkey season]. If he does not have any, you can order online. It can be sown up until July.
That said, rent the farm land to a farmer [50 acres of soybeans is a big food plot] and hunt the edges. Use the proceeds to pay for a hydro grinder to make some small food plots in the woods and a few shooting lanes while he is there.
Good luck.

Good luck finding Egyptian Wheat. Every place I tried to order from was out by mid March. Hybrid Sorghum Sudangrass was the replacement and has a 6'-10' height at maturity.

Alamo switchgrass for a screen only has to be planted once.

http://www.seedranch.com/default.asp..............just called these folks, they have plenty of Egyptian wheat seed.

shadycove said:

http://www.seedranch.com/default.asp..............just called these folks, they have plenty of Egyptian wheat seed.

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Thanks for the link to another seed source. The story for them is the same as the others though, from their website,



Egyptian Wheat Food Plot Seeds

** Due to Crop failure Sorghum 2322 will be shipped as alternative for this season.
This sorghum is identical to the Egyptian wheat crop, it's a very tall forage type sorghum.

ncnat said:

Thanks for the link to another seed source. The story for them is the same as the others though, from their website,



Egyptian Wheat Food Plot Seeds

** Due to Crop failure Sorghum 2322 will be shipped as alternative for this season.
This sorghum is identical to the Egyptian wheat crop, it's a very tall forage type sorghum.

Click to expand...

I spoke to their sales dept ---------TODAY.--------- After going to check, the sales girl said that they had plenty in stock.

Thanks guys, sorry for being late replying. I haven't convinced my dad to turn it into trees yet. I want to, some of it is wooded but I think I would enjoy it more for hunting if it grew up.

My two cents from experience...It is very easy to let it evolve naturally ( privette, pines, briars), it is very hard to remove it once it's established. Think long term is my advice.

Can't simply walk away from a field, or it will definitely convert to trees on its own. Mowing, burning or disking 1/3 to 1/2 each year can help things from getting out of hand, but treating undesirable trees and shrubs with herbicide is nearly always a necessity. Tolerating some blackberry briers will improve your cover more than anything else.

Planting wall to wall pines has some long term financial benefit, but you will experience a habitat lull once the canopy closes and groundcover disappears, without aggressive management you will not keep the habitat benefit as the stand ages. If you are interested in wildlife habitat lay out tree planting to leave not only food plots and shooting lanes, but also bedding/fawning areas that can be managed without tree overstory.