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CRP regulations

boacephus

boacephus

New Member
One of the properties I hunt currently has 50 or so acres of CRP. It floods on occasion in the spring. He is willing to help us do the work, but will the CRP program allow him to plant a food plot in say 2 to 5 acres of it??? He said he will call but I wouldn't mind doing more footwork to get this accomplished. After all I will benefit more than he will since I bow hunt.

OK I think I answered my own question by searching some of the old posts here.
NO

So what would be a fair price for a guy to buy say 2 to 5 acres from this guy. It doesn't have much crop value as it floods erery other year or so. Who knows maybe I could buy it and plant some apple trees in there to and qualify for land owners tag
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I would think that a food plot could be worked into the existing CRP contract but the flooding might be a concern. They (the ASCS/DNR or whatever they want to call themselves these days)might worry about erosion. If a person said it was going to be strictly no-till, they might like it better. JMO, though.
 
You can find out for sure but figure that most CRP contracts will allow for 10% to be used for wildlife food plots, there is a size restriction on some of them- not to be larger than 5 acres. From there- you can buy seed, spray, fertilizer, and lime. You may get free seed from Pheasants Forever or NWTF. I doubt the NRCS will have trouble with regular tillage on bottom ground, they are more concerned about highly erodible, still no-till will save some passes with the tractor. You can see what the custom farm rates are on the link and you can go from there about what to offer him.
Iowa custom farm rates
 
I have food plots in my CRP and you do have to apply for a change to your CRP contract and get them approved by the NRCS. I don't recall the exact rules but believe they are something along these lines:
1) must be a minimum of 1/4 acre
2) cannot exceed 10% of the field
3) cannot be wider than 1 chain (which is like 66.5')
4) if multiple strips are planted they must be separated by at least 1 chain

They will likely come out the first year to inspect them (after you've obtained approval and planted them) to ensure that you've complied with the rules (at least they did for me).

Your county NRCS office can give you the details....hope this helps.
 
What I did was called "Mid Contract Management". It allowed me to plant 10% of my CRP acres in food plots. With 50 acres of CRP you can plant 5 acres of food plots. Either one 5 acre plot or five one acre plots. I took in a topo photo of my property and colored in the areas I wanted to plant and told them what varieties I was wanting to use and the NRCS gave me a thumbs up. Good luck!
 
If you bought 5 acres from him, prior to the end of the crp contract, and wanted to tear it up you would have a problem. Since it would then be its own parcel if you worked up the ground it would no longer qualify for CRP. That typically means you must repay all the payments the farmer has recieved on those acres since the contract began. Just something to consider.

A guy near me enrolled a large parcel in CRP a couple years ago. Before he actually planted the grass he changed his mind and the word was that he had to pay about $30 an acre penatly to get out of the contract. That CRP had not even been planted yet.
 
Another thing to consider is that most counties are getting a little more strict about requiring a survey when a new parcel is created, this could be a hidden cost you are not recognizing.

FYI, a chain is 66' even.
 
I missed the question about buying 5 acres when I first read this post. Small parcels for hunting and or building sites are going for premiums over ground in bigger blocks. The number of people that can afford their own little honey hole goes through the roof as you get parcels down to the cost of a new pick-up. Even if it floods and isn't good for a home site, I'd bet a "fair" price on a smaller parcel (5-10 acres)would be 50% more than if sold in a larger tract.
 
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