outdoors

Well looks like any public ground that still has cover will be where the birds are and a couple hundred humans as well. Nice the farmers get to cut crp that hunters help pay them to set aside, wasn't this program to insure bird numbers and provide habitat plus nesting and winter cover?

Mr Oxboard Crp acres can only be cut in times of sevear drough, I belive this yr qualifies, then only after the soil and conversation office approves And the crop can only be used for livestock feed. When your livestock are going hungry, because the crops have dried up, what is a farmer to do, let them keep losing weight and let your farm die a slow death. The banks don,t care why your livestock sold for a poor price (because they are thin for lack of feed) they want the loan paid. I belive

Mr Cowguy, I live in farm country, many farmers who don't have livestock who are cutting the crp and selling the hay And if your livestock is hungry sell them, Farmers have crop insurance and get a nice paycheck if the crop fail anymore, farming isn't the nice little 100 acre family farm anymore, its big business and any loses are written off like any business does.

Pheasants are an introduced, non-native species that is imported from china. This article suggests that pheasants are also associated with genetically engineered commercial crops. Why can’t other game species be introduced as well, to allow more sporting opportunities for people who don’t have access to commercial crops? There are people who like to hunt but live in apartments, suburbs and cities. These people get duped into buying licenses and then head out to lifeless public hunting areas that are not associated with commercial crops. Why not import other species to benefit the little guy?

not to pile on oxboard, but if people who own crp dont cut/graze/burn the crp at least once every couple seasons they become "dead zones" and birds dont maintain that area as habitat anyway. So though it may not be good for hunting this year, it should rebound. By the way with the cuts and acres coming out of the program in the last few years we should all count ourselves lucky some still maintain enrollment in the program especially in with land prices. --good luck opening wknd everyone--

pundito, you dont hunt in commercial crop fields, (unless the farmer leaves a few rows) the author was saying there important to help feed and provide cover early in the season. sometimes the little guy should be happy he has public land to go out onto in the first place because many states are not as active in the creation of wma's and wia's as mn is. we should count ourselves lucky on that account too.