CRP Disturbance Disclaimer
POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO CRP COVER AT YOUR PHEASANT CAMP
Please be advised there are a host of things that can impact CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) acres cover that are beyond the control of UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting. You should know that periodic random mowing of CRP is not allowed under contract but the following disturbances may impact some of the hunting cover at your pheasant camp in any given season.
WEED CONTROL
The landowner is required to maintain noxious weeds in their CRP stand and may use mechanical clipping or chemical herbicide spraying to accomplish this.
MID CONTRACT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
In a 10 or 15 year contract the landowner is now required to conduct a mid contract management practice to beneficially disturb the grass CRP cover. This was found to be a problem in older CRP contracts and is now a standard management practice of all newer CRP contracts. 2 main practices are available to landowners and are required to be done every 5 years. One is to mechanically clip the grass and then bale it and destroy the bales as witnessed by an NRCS employee. The clipping is usually done in August outside main nesting period but limited regrowth may impact hunting cover at that site that fall. NRCS will allow landowners to spread out this clipping in thirds over a 3 year period. The second practice is a prescribed fire or burn. This is typically conducted in the early spring in April/May and regrowth is plenty for fall cover and may even have minimal impacts to nesting cover. This practice is preferred over clipping and baling but not all landowners are prepared to tackle prescribed fire but it is becoming more and more popular.
EMERGENCY HAYING AND GRAZING
In years when drought is severe the USDA may open up 50% of the CRP acres in a given county to grazing and/or haying. Some landowners will take advantage of this if it becomes available, especially if they are in the cattle business. FYI, the haying and grazing resource cannot be sold for income.
CONTRACT RENEWAL AND COVER RE-ESTABLISHMENT
If a CRP contract expires and is renewed the NRCS may require the landowner to reseed and re-establish the cover type per the contract.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
UGUIDE does not lease land at these pheasant camp locations but enters into a partnership with the landowners. UGUIDE seeks to let landowners retain as much freedom in their land management as possible and therefore UGUIDE may not be aware of all or any of the above impacts to CRP at any given location at any given time.
The UGUIDE system is setup to reward the prudent pheasant manager for managing the resources they have in their control.
