1sagittarius

Rising corn prices due to ethanol prodution have forced farmers to remove 4.1 Million acres from CRP in 2007 to put into corn production. This is a 4.1 million acre loss of year round habitat, hunting, nesting acreage for all kinds of wildlife. It has also cause in 40% increase in the price of N fertilzer in the last few months ... which comes from petroleum and natural gas sources.

http://www.agriculture.com/ag/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/ag/story/data/1173389267555.xml&catref=ag1001

kevin1

Those same farmers will soon be begging for hunters to take out all those fat corn fed deer that they'll be creating in the near future.

Parrot Head

It is tempting I must say. I have one 20 acre plot in CRP and make 85 per acre. I have another 50 acres that is farmed and I get 135 per acre out of that.

Wheatley

If the deer do not have cover all year round like the CRP fields they may not stick around. After all that conr gets cut there is no place to hide in some areas. I have walked through many CRP fields and seen deer and deer beds in the tall think cover. Basically there is no other places for them to hide. The pheasant population is going to be hurt the most.

Howler

Don't think that the farmers are being "forced" to do this, but like was said, there is a better value in a sucessful corn crop when compared to CRP, and there in lies the incentive. Plus, unless the CRP contract deadline is up, they CAN'T do it. Most CRP is enrolled in 10 year contracts, so unless all the CRP is coming out of the contract period, all the CRPcan't be tilled.
Like was said, pheasant will be impacted more than the deer. And, the other thing that the great push of ethanol will do is make our grocery bill go up!

Lanse couche couche

Well, the deer and other game must have done something before all that land was in CRP. Dunno why, but in fact, apart from deer, the hunting in my neck of the woods seemed to be better before half the county went to CRP.
Now, if more actual woodland or marginal ground is cleared for farming that is a different story.

Wheatley

There is talk about letting the CRP contacts be voided though. So if that happens we could see a major drop off in a years time. Much higher than 4.1M acres.

If you live in an area with trees and other cover other than CRP than the deer pop probably won't be hurt. Out here in Nebraska where the trees are very scarce it would probably desimate alot of the deer population.

TROPHYHUNTER25

you are all missing the big picture. fuel prices will drop alot, grain prices will start to lower once everythings up and going. how many times do you complain when filling up your gas tank or paying your utility bill? we ruin more habitat with our own repopulation. using billions of acres to expand and killing off habitat. so if your parents would have kept it in there pants we would have a few less to take up space.

Howler

How's the saying go,......If you're going to dream, dream BIG!

So let's look at this, let's say ethonal becomes a "primary fuel" for cars, thus more cars buring it, means more grain needed to make it. Right so far? the human population keeps growing thus meaning more mouths to feed, BUT more grain is being grown to feed our cars, BUT wait, what about all the mouths of humans, you no food like bread, flour, etc. Well since more of the grain is being burned in cars, means less for making food, which means someone better start growing more grain, BUT wait, more people means more housing which means less ground to grow grain! When alls said and done, you're left with less ground to grow grain, more grain needed, and with higher demand for the grain, you're going to pay a higher price for it! And the fuel prices, do you really think the price of fuel is going to drop a lot! Do you realize that it takes more energy to make ethanol than ethonal itself gives! Keep on dreamin'![]

JustRace

My fiances family owns a 700 acre farm, and they bust their butt. I will be happy if they can turn this into money for the rest of the family. I love hunting, but without money I can't afford to hunt. I agree that more land will be taken by houses. If her family decided to sell the farm it would be gone in a week, and no one in the family would ever have to work again. So its a trade off.

Her grandpa was offered 120,000 for 3 acres of land. He said no.

So I think Ethanol is the least of our worries.