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CRP MCM Requirement

J

Jdubs

Well-Known Member
Guys,

I renewed my CRP last year and adopted MCM(Mid Contract Management) requirements with my renewel. I know not every CRP contract includes MCM, but mine does. My concern, or question, is this, how many feel that MCM is in place to simply make the landowner put CRP monies back into the property without thoroughly considering what is best for the property?
For example, I have a MCM requirement approaching this winter requiring me to disk a 24 acre CRP field, which is currently awesome cover, and plant 67 pounds of clover. I question this move considering I have food everywhere and could use all the cover I can get. Again, I tend to feel some politician implemented MCM to ensure monies are placed back into the property without adequate examination of land needs. Your thoughts.
 
I have a grower that had 45 acres in this program. He had a bottom field that he had to disk this year and put to clover. Well, you know the spring we had, flooded very bad after disking, which put him back to square one. The reason it was in CRP was, it lost a crop about every other year due to flooding. Now he has lost alot of top soil, and had a pretty hard time getting the clover established after the flooding, other than the fact that he had to go back and disk most of it again. The switch grass and brome was just getting established great, then he had to disk it. Doesn't make much sense to me.
 
I too have a MCM plan on my 90 acres of CRP and I am glad to have it. My CRP is a calf-high brome wasteland and I am signed up to affect 1/3 of my acres in year 1, this year, 1/3 in year 3 and 1/3 in year 5. I will disk the ground twice and then let nature take over and grow whatever comes. The intention is that the weeds will grow naturally providing overhead cover for birds, quail/pheasant, etc, and also generate seeds that will provide food too for the same.

I do plan, but am not obligated to, interseed some clover and then let whatever happens with it happen. Also, I am slowly beginning to start installing about 1-2 acre "islands" of switchgrass in certain key spots too. So I am looking forward to converting my useless brome over to cover that will support birds and deer much better than what is out there now.
 
I watched a neighbor do some disking of their CRP last spring for MCM. By midsummer, the Canada thistles were in full bloom and later in the year it looked like a blizzard when the wind blew. The foxtail came in nice as well.

My MIL is supposed to do MCM on her CRP. She has the option of disking or having it sprayed with half strength herbicide. I think it will be easiest (and cause less erosion) to have the CoOp come in and spray.

I can see the desire to get rid of monoculture stands of brome but it sure seems like it makes it more difficult to manage. What herbicide do you spray that only kills the nondesirable weeds? One persons weed is another's flower. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
You probably should have explored your options a little more before signing the contract. I would call and ask them if you can do a fire burn instead. Or you could mix a lot native grass seed in with the clover seed. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

At least in my area, the people at the NRCS seem to be really flexible. We just resigned our contract last fall. I had 85 acres of brome I wanted to re-plant in anything. They had recommended some of the practices listed above. Disking, spraying with half strength round-up etc. But in the end, I asked them what they thought about planting straight switch grass; they said ok, sounds good to us. I have to burn it the third year for MCM which will only help the switch grass.

All they can say is no to your ideas so just ask and you may be surprised what they will allow you to do.

Tim
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PYBucks</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You probably should have explored your options a little more before signing the contract. I would call and ask them if you can do a fire burn instead. Or you could mix a lot native grass seed in with the clover seed. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

At least in my area, the people at the NRCS seem to be really flexible. We just resigned our contract last fall. I had 85 acres of brome I wanted to re-plant in anything. They had recommended some of the practices listed above. Disking, spraying with half strength round-up etc. But in the end, I asked them what they thought about planting straight switch grass; they said ok, sounds good to us. I have to burn it the third year for MCM which will only help the switch grass.

All they can say is no to your ideas so just ask and you may be surprised what they will allow you to do.

Tim
</div></div>

That's exactly right! You don't have to use clover..nor do you have to sign up for discing, burning is one of the options as well (althought you have to have a burn plan done)

Re-seeding with prairie grass is perfectly acceptable (I too asked) and if you disc..it should be very very light...just scratch the surface.

I would also add that in 99% of the cases it will not be "inspected" (at least in my area)...so...take it from there... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
I found that my local NRCS office is very flexible. They actually gave me several options and I chose to burn, light disc, then inter-seed some switch to gain some cover. I agree that brome is boring and good for field mice but not great for deer. They should also allow you to do 1/3 of your C.R.P. acres in food plots of your choice. Maybe you could amend your contract to something that suits your plans better.
 
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