Order seedlings in one wk.

[Lee Borgersen]

  Order seedlings in one week!
 
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You can start ordering seedlings on Monday, October 15. Get your order in early for the best seedling selection!
Download the 2019 Seedling Order Form from the Minnesota State Forest Nursery website.

Thanks for letting us grow with you for a healthier tomorrow!
Minnesota State Forest Nursery    

Learn More At...........

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https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/nursery/ordering.html?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

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[savage270]

Does anyone know how the DNR cost share program works for planting trees?

[HD]

Does anyone know how the DNR cost share program works for planting trees?

I did it about 20 years ago, so I'm sure things have changed. I think Deadeye did the program more recently than me. I would call the local DNR office for better info.

[Smokey Hills Bandit]

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[delcecchi]

Thanks Lee.

Got my order in the mail today. 1500 trees sure hurt the pocket book 

Who has a shovel?
JL

You gonna plant them by hand?   I recall back in the day planting a few hundred on my dad's and his buddies deer hunting land with our boy scout troop.  Used one of those special spades, forget what they are called.   

I was younger then....  About 60 years ago.   I've been tempted to drive by the place and see how they are doing.

[deadeye]

I did mine through the local ASCS office.  We applied for and got approved for CRP riparian buffers along swamp edges.  I believe 60 feet wide was the max.  The grant covered most of the cost of the trees, (approximately 9000) the planting and site prep.  Biggest issue was the land had to have a crop history.  We got approved for the part that had a crop history but we paid the full cost of the area that did not.  This has always been an issue with me.  Turns out the way these programs are written, they benefit (as in paying) the guys who did nothing to protect and preserver the wetlands while those who did it on their own, get nothing. Just doesn't seem right to me.     

[delcecchi]

Seems to me they should have had to protect wetlands on their own nickel, but that ain't gonna happen.   Not if it gets in the way of making a buck for some of those guys.   

[Dotch]

I did mine through the local ASCS office.  We applied for and got approved for CRP riparian buffers along swamp edges.  I believe 60 feet wide was the max.  The grant covered most of the cost of the trees, (approximately 9000) the planting and site prep.  Biggest issue was the land had to have a crop history.  We got approved for the part that had a crop history but we paid the full cost of the area that did not.  This has always been an issue with me.  Turns out the way these programs are written, they benefit (as in paying) the guys who did nothing to protect and preserver the wetlands while those who did it on their own, get nothing. Just doesn't seem right to me.   

I hear ya deadeye. When the original CRP was put in place, the guys who benefited the most were those who were the biggest culprits, plowing up to the edges of rivers and streams, up and down hills, continuous corn, etc. They were allowed to put huge acreages into the program including good farm land. Folks like ourselves who had a multiple crop rotation and kept land seeded down into hay were penalized. We had very few acres that qualified as a result and those acres that qualified would've made a screwed up mess for anyone renting the farmland.

Doing the right thing on your own nickel sounds like the right thing to do until you look at the bottom line del. Back in the day, draining a wetland meant cheap farmland that had been otherwise unproductive. Farming is a business, however not necessarily one that is required to supply everyone with a playground for their particular endeavor. When we restored the wetland here, money was donated by PF & DU for portions of the process. Tax dollars were also part of the equation. This does not mean one should feel obligated to allow every Tom, Dick and Harry access because "they pay taxes". Seems every tree hugger, granola cruncher, pollinator groupie as well as hunter feels entitled. I pay taxes too.

I watched a couple woodies winging their way to the pond area tonite at sunset. The sun was shining off their bellies on their descent. Made me smile to see them, knowing they had a place to rest on their trek south.   

[delcecchi]

Yep, I understand how things are.   The CRP program had as one of its objectives, as I recall, getting land, presumably marginal land, out of production in order to support grain prices.   Probably that was its primary objective. 

For many farmers, farming is a business and that means getting the most production from their assets for the minimum cost.   And if tiling or their tillage practices or manure disposal practices produce some damage elsewhere, that might make them feel bad for a while but isn't going to change much. 

Besides, for many years the Government probably encouraged the draining of wetlands to produce more. Perhaps following good practices now should be a prerequisite to get crop insurance and whatever the current programs are.   

[Dotch]

Therein lies the problem: What constitutes "good" practices? Who's definitions do we use? Right now we're still dealing with Dayton's little buffer strip debacle.  Were there places that additional buffers should be implemented? Sure. Should they be required on areas sloping away from drainage ditches? Not unless water can suddenly run uphill! I also know of several substantial operations who do not carry crop insurance & some who aren't in the farm program. Think old money. Luckily they're relatively good stewards but what's to stop them from doing whatever they please?

[delcecchi]

Dotch, I defer to your ag training.  I would think however that some good practices should be fairly easy to define.   They are those that minimize soil erosion, don't result in excess nutrients going into the public's rivers, and preserve wetlands to help minimize flooding that destroys other folks property.   

That is my take at a starting point.  Your point of view might differ.