Reclaiming Land

rusty6

Well-known Member
After our record dry summer a lot of formerly flooded farm land is now available for reclaimation. It has grown many acres of bulrushes and now willows are starting to show up too. So I got in there with the old 730 Case and 6 foot rotary Farm King mower yesterday and started on one. Its slow going in third, sometimes second gear, but I shredded a good piece of ground yesterday afternoon.
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I'm guessing you're not subject to wetlands restrictions like we are. Destroying red wing blackbird habitat can get you free meals and a place to sleep not of your choosing.
 
(quoted from post at 07:39:48 09/22/17) I'm guessing you're not subject to wetlands restrictions like we are. Destroying red wing blackbird habitat can get you free meals and a place to sleep not of your choosing.



He's reclaiming what was originally farmland, not destroying what was originally wetlands.
 
No, it sounds like we are worlds apart when it comes to breaking up our own land. The only time a problem might arise is if we start making
ditches to drain the water. Any kind of drainage is becoming more difficult and wrapped in red tape here lately. People downstream just don't
want the extra water. And really who can blame them?
 
You must have had record rain for a few years to flood that land. We get a lot of flooding here in central Texas because the whole area around here is pretty much a flood plane.
 

One of my favorite things to do is to go into a customer's field or woods and knock down small pine trees and wild rose bushes. I usually forget to take before pics....
 
(quoted from post at 08:01:40 09/22/17) Those sides have some significant slopes. Mowing the bottom of a dry pond?


Then half of my pasture would kind of be the bottom of a dry pond then (they call significant slopes hills).


rusty6 wrote: After our record dry summer a lot of formerly flooded farm land is now available for reclaimation.

I would think the government made that land available for reclaimation before he went in there.
 
(quoted from post at 08:09:54 09/22/17)
rusty6 wrote: After our record dry summer a lot of formerly flooded farm land is now available for reclaimation.

I would think the government made that land available for reclaimation before he went in there.

The Govt has no say in how we work these sloughs as far as I know. It produced good crops in the 1980s but gradually lost ground in wetter years. The past 7 years have been just insane for rainfall and we lost up to 25% or our cultivated acres to flooding on some quarters. This particular photo is a little exaggerated due to the distortion of the camera lens. That is a water course that only flows in times of high rainfall or spring thaw. I'm not betting on seeding it next year but at least if it is cut, there is hope of getting across with the sprayer, etc.
I think I might have posted this drone shot from spring showing some of my land and the water on it.
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Sort of what I have been doing this summer as well. A lot of portions in our fields dad used to farm over the last 50 years but a few wet years would not allow them to be farmed with the small equipment. Once they set for a few years, that soil gets so packed from rain, etc, the water just lays there. The last 4 or 5 years we have been able to work in from the edges a lot on these pieces, but still can't get the middle. This year however, it has been so dry, we are able to deep rip all of these pieces. That's all it takes here, let the water out, and then subsoil it each year, turn it back to farm land.
 
Might be easier to burn what is left standing, if you can clear a fire break around it. Going to be a job to get the residue from mowing underground so you can plant something.
 
(quoted from post at 07:45:34 09/22/17)
(quoted from post at 07:39:48 09/22/17) I'm guessing you're not subject to wetlands restrictions like we are. Destroying red wing blackbird habitat can get you free meals and a place to sleep not of your choosing.



He's reclaiming what was originally farmland, not destroying what was originally wetlands.

Here in NH if you allow cattails to grow for too long on a piece of crop ground regardless of how it happened to become wet, you can be reported for wetlands violations, and have to face all of the discussions and potential consequences that can follow.
 
Around here in California, it's the Gnatcatcher bird. I get real concerned when I cut new brush. Out here 50 ft should be completely clear, the next 50 ft thinned 50 %from buildings for fire protection. Regardless of the bird. Stan
 
The provincial government here in Ontaio has pretty much adopted the California play book on all stupid rules concerning environment. If I did the kind of thing you are doing roosty6 I would be typing this from a jail cell. I am ready to move west, but my wife, sigh... Not so much
 
(quoted from post at 18:19:04 09/22/17) The provincial government here in Ontaio has pretty much adopted the California play book on all stupid rules concerning environment. If I did the kind of thing you are doing roosty6 I would be typing this from a jail cell. I am ready to move west, but my wife, sigh... Not so much

I expect the same regulations are coming to us too. It just takes a little longer to get here. I'll enjoy my freedom before its gone.
 

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