Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Anyone else have CRP?

I wasn’t sure where to put this question. I picked wildlife management, but if there’s a better place, moderators please move it.
I received an email from the USDA a few days ago about enrolling acres into CRP. Right now half of the 10 acres that drain into my pond comes from soybean fields. A few ruts have formed through the years from runoff, that I’m sure is contributing silt into the pond. I set up an appointment next week to meet with the agent that helps enroll ground into the program. I’m pretty sure my little 10 acres will qualify. (The rest of all the ground surrounding the pond is in timber, plus another 50 acres).
I think I could improve the ground for wildlife habitat through the right grasses with CRP. It would eliminate the silt coming into the pond, or greatly reduce it. I’m a little concerned that it will reduce the runoff so much, that I’ll have trouble keeping the pond full. I still have a very small leak.
Just curious, for those that already have CRP, what costs am I looking at? I think it’ll be kind of expensive to get what they want planted, in there. Am I missing anything? Right now with soybeans every year, we are attracting plenty of deer, but not a lot of turkeys. I’d like to improve that. Hopefully we can help both. Any input, suggestions or recommendations appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff

Here they come out to ensure that the planting was done and then again to see how it's growing. Then after that I don't think they show up once a year.

IME there seem to be different kinds/levels of CRP enrollment, which seem to vary (at least) from state-to-state.

We have all our grass acres in CRP, which didn't take any special efforts planting-wise. We just left what was already growing there (orchard grass, brome grass, timothy, assorted legumes, and various weeds in larger concentrations than I would prefer). There are some restrictions, like "don't mow it all at the same time", which don't really affect our use of the acreage for hayfields and/or pastures (in our 60's, with day jobs, we're doing well to get about 1/6 of what we bale done in a week - weather permitting).

I know from watching farmtubers on Youtube that completely different requirements/restrictions exist elsewhere. So hopefully someone from Mizzoo can chime in; otherwise you may have to find out by going through the application process (which may not be successful the first time - they only have so much budget wrt money/acreage to enroll each year).

Good luck - reducing silt input by converting row crops to grasses is a good idea IMHO.

Thanks for starting this thread SetterGuy!

I predict you will get a lot of views if you keep posting all of the steps if you choose to continue with the process.



Reducing siltation to your pond is definitely a positive good. But you do not want to lose too much of your incoming water.

How about trying a small experiment first? You could put on your box scraper behind your tractor and fill in the erosion ruts and build a few spots that are perfectly level. (I would make them only wide enough for 2-3 passes with your seed drill.) They also need to be "at grade" so you don't make mini dams and cause wet spots in your field.

The dirty runoff from the bean field after big rain events would slow down when passing through your "grass bands". Hopefully, most of the silt load would be dropped in those areas. Likewise, most of the incoming water should still make it to your pond - rather than being lost to ground infiltration.


** Our local conservation district (in Kansas) actually has a nice no-till grass drill available for rental. You might ask your USDA person about that resource availability in your area.

I definitely want to increase the turkey population at our place.

Our turkeys seem to prefer the areas of open ground adjacent to short grass adjacent to heavy cover. There are times in the spring when they are all on the bare ground eating some bug that hatched early. A few weeks later, they are then in the short grass eating whatever hatched next. (I need to do a lot of clearing in my overgrown shelter belt trees because the turkeys roost on my neighbors property.)

I did deep disk a few areas of grass three years ago in the fall. The turkeys loved the bare dark earth in the spring since it warmed up first and became their earliest hunting ground.

However, this hurt my warm season grasses. That area now shows more cool season grasses and weeds. I am NOT a smart enough land manager to know if this will turn out to be a long-term benefit to our turkeys (and quail and pheasants) or not.

Conventional wisdom shows grassland having more runoff than timber, less than rowcrops.

Theo is correct about the runoff numbers for different types of vegetation.

The good news is that the runoff numbers are based on the vegetation for the entire watershed.

Obviously you will still get the exact same runoff from the bean field regardless of what you do on your property as regards grass plantings. IMO, putting 10 acres in CRP will only result in a minor diminution in the amount of water making it to your pond.

However, it is quite easy for me to be wrong in theory! That is why I proposed that you try a little experiment first - and determine what best fits your needs.

If your pond still stays full in summer after planting a little grass, then you can probably go the full CRP route if you determine that is in your best interests.

I have several acres of CPR for over 24 yrs on east and west borders of a creek. I had help in the spring planting warm season grasses of switch grass, big and small bluestem and Indian grass. Switch and Indian grass thrives the best. I am not allowed to mow it until early August unless noxious weeds are problematic. The first year I used a special herbicide to reduce weeds because supposedly the new grasses were not real tolerant to 2-4D. Now I use 2-4D as the main herbicide to control weeds mostly thistles. The grasses soon developed dense enough growth that thistles are about the only weeds that persist. A year or two ago Soil& Water and FSA (farm service agency) of USDA promoted or required the planting of milk weeds grown in flower flats for the CRP areas. Probably a wild idea from a government someone behind a desk. I was told they were providing the plants free. I am not sure if this is still an ongoing program. Since then I was not notified to get my plants. I hope the program was a failure. My farmer friend was required to and planted some. HIs all died due to too dry of ground at planting.

I was on the property when the pond was being constructed and after it was finished. I seriously doubt that SetterGuy will have a big difference in water runoff going to his pond if he puts that field into CRP. I think the CRP might even help mitigate the sediment that runs into the pond from that field.

The CRP can ruin your runoff. When 200 acres of farm land here in west Tx was taken out of cotton and put into CRP 20 years ago the 16 acre tank went dry and stayed that way. Land is now out of CRP and the tank is half full and stocked.

Well, I met with the USDA agents yesterday. I’m not optimistic about getting my 10 ac enrolled in the CRP program. My acres scored 156. Last year it took 170 to get in. We shall see. They just follow a computer generated formula based on soil type and satellite photos. No changes allowed.
I walked the pond today. Snow is melting off, so I’m getting a little runoff. With the ice it gives me a fairly clear pic of the water quality coming in. Hopefully I can get pics to load.

I’m jumping in on a webinar through Quail Forever. Here’s the link if you’re interested. For me the ideal cover will attract deer, turkey and quail. We will see. Hopefully I can ask a little more about the process of getting selected. And my score of 156, vs last year’s level of 170 to get in.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Yf2XJH46RNer0Wz-kGxkwQ