Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Wetlands Reserve Program

  • Deleted by Nilla
Show…
I have owned a farm that is in it since May 2013, it has its pros and cons! Yes you can do food plots up to 5% of your non timber acres but you will need to get your plan approved threw your NRCS Area Easement Specialist, mine has been pretty easy to work with! It does say that no permenant tree stands as like the ones that you would build, hang ons and ladder stands are ok. They want nothing permenant, such as a camping space or even fire ring. The do aerial photos and will call and ask you about something if they don't like it, the main thing is if in question just ask them. You can get a land owners tag for deer and turkeys, I have made ATV trails and done some timber cutting but they do not allow sales of the timber or anything that you could make money on, you can do firewood for your own use. Just remember there is a reason this property is in this program, it can flood if you are by a river, it can, I have had the Volga river come up and ruin a really good food plot crop, submerge my equipment and kill a bunch of my seedlings that were planted. But it is a way to get into land ownership at a much more reasonable price and know that you control your farm and your hunting opportunity! Best thing we ever did and if you can amke it as an investment and improve it you should always be able to get your investment back, can't say the same about the stock market! Good Luck, hope yoy
 
I bought 120 acres about 6 years ago. 60 was/is in lifetime WRP. It helped keep the price down and has had no negative impact on my use at all. It is literally all in the flood plain and half or more goes under water at least once a year. Those 60 are still full of deer and turkeys. I have one food plot in there that has been flooded out but that is a risk I know I am taking. However, when not flooded it grows like a QDM magazine cover with the rich black soil. I would not hesitate to buy more WRP property.
 
Depends if you buy the farm for just hunting or hunting/investment.

Food plots are not a sure thing, lots of restrictions. Basically the government has control of your land.
 
The person who enrolled it into the program sold all the rights except a few simple rights. You can pull that warrenty easement deed from nrcs website or from deed records.
But basically you retain rights for quite recreational use and to pay the taxes. All other rights you must ask nrcs for permission thru a compatabile use authorization. It's typical for trails, food plots ,etc to be granted. Forest management must be authorized and aproved by nrcs thru a forest management plan. The good thing is that you are allowed to retain the income generated. But the tricky part is that the forest management must help increase wetland function and value. If you ask to cut trees to create deer habitat...not likely to get approval. But ask to harvest undiserable tree species to create early successional habitat that benefits wetland herbaceous vegetation and you may get approval.
 
Top Bottom