Farm Tour

Sara and I saddled the horses and toured every corner of the farm today after church. We looked at all the alfalfa fields. The new alfalfa field looks really good with only a little bit of regrowth from the oats. The field that has had only 2 cuttings taken off of it looks fair. It has an average height of about 7 or 8 inches with highs of over 12" and lows as low as 3" and sparse. I'm assuming that I'll cut it in the next 7 days if the weather looks good just because it is getting late and alfalfa doesn't dry in cool weather. The lower field that we call the food plot, was surveyed for its fence. The fence looks pretty good in most spots. The west side fence is the worst, but the east side is bad and is longer. I'd like to graze the cows down there just before they go up to the winter paddock but I don't want to take a chance that the cows get out into the neighbors corn, so I'm a little timid about putting them behind a single strand of electric while the corn is still up. We were really amazed at the growth of the willow trees down in the lower wetland. They have grown into large flowing trees in just a few years. The upper wetland has quite a few nice poplar trees starting on the dike. I think that these will have to be cut down since tall trees and prairie wetlands are not really compatible from a native wildlife ecosystem standpoint. Tall trees are not a natural plant on the open prairie potholes and are vantage points for the hawks and other birds of prey to perch. They would be perfectly positioned to allow birds of prey to pick-off the waterfowl and their chicks that would use the wetlands. I often wonder how amazing the landscape must have been before all of the potholes were drained from this area for crop fields. Where the wetlands have been restored, it is an amazing complex ecosystem that can't be appreciated without venturing out into them. With our wetlands on our farm and by hunting many off of our farm in the fall and winter, we have the opportunity to really get close to the wildlife all the way down to the bugs and plants that live there. We're very pleased to have restored wetlands and native prairies on our farm and it's part of our farming philosophy to be conservationists and stewards of the land not just users of the land. The wildlife that these areas produce, feed and shelter is amazing. The bounty reaches all of the way to our table in the form of healthy and truly organic food that is rich and distinct in local flavor. We harvest deer, rabbit and pheasant with the occasional duck and partridge on our farm. Many of our neighbors have also set aside parts of their farms for wildlife and it has paid dividends in the abundant wildlife that lives in our part of the county. The geese that feed in our alfalfa field rest on the 70 acre wetland/pond that my neighbor restored set aside. And the hen pheasant that is leading a brood of chicks from my neighbor's set aside into my CRP shrub borders and into the prairie grasses that borders my pastures has literally miles of cover thanks to the farmers who care enough to take ground out of production for the sake of wildlife and nature. We are truly blessed in Dickinson County Iowa to have some of the most conservation minded farmers and active wildlife management resources like Iowa DNR and USFW.