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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 102 ~ 20 of 63
Last summer, for example, Moisan devised a plan to mow some of his CRP in irregular strips. The idea was to confound pheasant nest predators such as foxes, skunks and coyotes, while at the same time al- lowing his renter to take some much needed hay and meeting management goals included in the CRP contract. Moisan’s plan wasn’t accepted because the contract requires that mowing take place in blocks of no less than 10 acres. So, he had to go back to the drawing board.
Though Moisan was able to enroll the acres he needed into CRP, the crop portion of Eagle View Ranch’s operations proved harder to turn pro table. In 2010, when another renter parted ways with Moisan, the landowner was forced to nd another farmer, this time he hoped to nd someone who shared his vision. Or at least one that understood it.
The man Moisan needed turned out to be Mick Rowe. Rowe farmed over 1,000 acres in and around Tripp County and had embraced the practice of no-till farming. The idea behind no-till farming is to leave plenty of crop residue in the ground after harvesting. That leaves more organic matter in the ground and helps moisture make its way into the ground. Leaving the roots and stems in the dirt also has the important effect of reducing soil erosion.
Rowe said he picked the idea up from Dwayne Beck, who runs the Dakota Lakes Research Farm south of Pierre. Beck has been at the forefront of a revolution of sorts in dry land farming. Farmers from Kansas to Canada have implemented no-till and other farming practices Beck has pioneered.
It can take a few years but, eventually, no-till farming and a good crop rotation plan leads to healthier soil that in turn leads to better yields, with reduced need for such things as fertilizer. The increased moisture retention also helps crops such as corn and sorghum weather central South Dakota’s often dry climate. Rowe said it took him six years to break even on Moisan’s land.
“There’s just no topsoil,” Rowe said. “It’s all been eroded away.”
Rowe also has embraced modern technology. He’s started using satellite imagery to help him plant more ef ciently in the spring and to help identify where and how to use chemicals, which ends up reducing the amount needed and, by extension, the cost of the chemicals. That translates into more money in his pocket and Moisan’s pocket.
That’s critical, Moisan said, because even with land enrolled in the CRP program, there’s no way he could afford to keep his ranch without pro table farm ground.
“The way I’ve got it setup now, the land pays for itself,” Moisan said.
Precision doesn’t come without some sacri ce, though. Rowe said he’s invested many thousands of dol- lars in both hardware and software.
It didn’t take long after Moisan started planting trees and grass for wildlife to respond. When his land was a desert of wheat stubble most of the year, the only birds he saw there were some grouse that com- muted in for dinner in the afternoon. They weren’t really huntable in that situation.
After planting trees and grass on his marginal cropland, it took about three years before Moisan started seeing a difference in the number of pheasants on his land. By 2008, Moisan said, his sons and friends were able to harvest hundreds of birds in a season.
“The pheasant and grouse crop just exploded,” Moisan said.
He started letting people who asked hunt on Eagle View Ranch provided they cleaned up after them- selves. Moisan said if people who asked to hunt had kids and dogs with them they’d be even more likely to get permission to hunt.
“You could sit on the deck, have breakfast and 60 to 70 pheasants would walk across the yard,” Moisan said of the pheasant population on his property.
For four years, the hunting was incredible, Moisan said. Then, in 2012, the pheasant population tanked. Only a few birds were killed on Eagle View Ranch that year. In 2013, Moisan said he stopped hunting the property.
The birds still haven’t come back, he said, even though the habitat on his property is some of the best around.
“I just don’t understand that,” Moisan said. “If the wildlife comes back, I’ve got a ve-star hotel with a