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I decided to try and get out to shoot a duck this afternoon, lots moving. A mile or so out of town, a friend of mine was getting out of his tractor, which had a 60 foot Miller disc behind it. He was tearing out a CRP. Stopped and visited, he said the contract wasn't renewed, and he wanted to get it broken before the snow, to capture some moisture. That's 960 acres of lost habitat, owned by a friendly farmer who never said no to a hunter asking permission. Thats going on all over. Sad to see, but few people pay attention to what happens in the Farm bills.
Went on to where I could glass my warm water slough, NO ducks...strange...Over to old home place, parked and Flash and I sneaked an old farm stead, full of roosters, managed to get one at two corners. Headed home, got annoyed with Flash when he started jumping around, finally paid attention...Several hundred geese in a baled feed field...Maybe go out there in the morning...Good day...Scary what the future may bring for outdoors folks...stay well..snowing now!

Good luck on the geese. I'm going out after ducks and geese tomorrow too. Season has been pretty slow so far. Clear, sunny and 73 degrees in the middle of November does not make for good Illinois waterfowling.

The future doesn't look good at all for CRP. And that's sad. CRP brought us a real resurgence in bird numbers in the Midwest, especially pheasants. Here in Iowa, we went from what was then an all-time low season bag of 724,000 in 1984 to 1.4 million in 1987. 2 million acres of instant habitat will do that for you. And having lost many of the little spots that used to hold a bird or two . . . fewer fencerows, draws, small pocket wet spots, etc . . . things don't look great.

These days, Iowa pheasant hunters would whoop and holler with joy if we had a 700,000 bird season.

I have 107 acres in a cpr type program, but not for itself which was going to be a 20 year contract. Subject to funding. Did not get funded this year after 13 years. I kept it in grassland type growth but I don't farm. If I did it would be gone. As owner I rationalized that I could get by without the rent or program money. So I left it. But next year is coming real fast and if it does not get funded this year I am going to put most of it back into production. I will leave about 20 acres in grassland and scrub growth as a buffer and to give a couple places for quail a place to live. I am told there is almost zero chance that it will get funded which is sad.

That's very sad, KY Jon. And you're right about those who actually make a living from farming. They can't make a go of it by letting productive land lie idle. Unfortunately, a lot of farmers opted out of the program when commodity prices were high. They'd likely get back in again now if they could, but about the only opportunities out there are for the "permanent" titles of the program (field and stream buffers, etc) and some of those programs are pretty limited in terms of how many acres Uncle Sam will pay for.

I thought you were living in Mexico ?

Make up ypur mind jOe, last week you were giving me shit for coming back...

Maybe what we need is Genetically Modified Quail, GMQ. If the numbers of birds go up like GMO grain productions we would have good old days back in no time. Men no longer brag about corn yield of 200 bushels per acre. I know lots don't get that much but under right conditions more than a few do. We had a farm two years ago which was way, way above that average and I suspect we were not that far above many. Now if we just got $8.00 a bushel with that type of yield.

The loss of CPR is sad and not just for the money loss or game loss. In fact, I could have done better renting the land in all but the early years. But most farmers consider their lives to include stewardship of the land as much as making a living off it. But I have noticed the farmer who tends my land has several acres he has taken out of production and is letting grow into grass land type cover. He use to hunt rabbits and I think even has picked up a couple of dogs. Perhaps he will get a few this year. I love a good rabbit for dinner after hearing the dogs works one for a good shot and making the shot.

We have had GMQ's here for a while...They have grown a coating akin to Kevlar, rendering them shot proof..We live in an area of Kansas which is full of draws and canyons that are not farmable, so some natural habitat is available, an aggressive local program of guzzlers in those areas provides a water source. No Federal or State money here, just local folks gittin er dun.

The problem with our country is people getting paid to do nothing.....

CRP is just another form of welfare.