Stream Exclusion Buffers

[Foragefarmer]

As I have stated in a couple other threads; I own a working cattle farm. I have now achieved 100% exclusion of the creeks on my place with minimum 35' buffers. So I have started killing the majority fescue sod out of those buffers where it exists.

A couple shots of some spots treated early this spring.





And what those spots hopefully will look like in a year or two.

 

[Charlieyca]

Looks good, you going to mow it eventually to keep it low growth or let it grow up more?

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[Foragefarmer]

Yeah, I can mow the buffers once a year. I do it in Jan-Feb. I want to keep these areas in this early successional growth to enhance my edges. If I left it it would probably get choked out by cedars and become a monoculture. Don't ask me how I know that.

I mowed the last two photos over the winter and that area is already mid thigh.

 

[Charlieyca]

Nice looks good and I'm sure the birds and small game love that area

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[Foragefarmer]

I certainly have a healthy bunny population.

 

[Charlieyca]

Good bunny habitat is good deer habitat!

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[j-bird]

Are those buffers some sort of CRP type program? Killing the sod is a must if you want to get native plants to grow on their own. I started with letting mother nature do her thing, but have since started switching to native grass plantings as it simply provides better cover in my opinion and I still let a lot of the beneficial weeds grow in it for some diversity as well. The areas along creeks and streams is very useful to wildlife as they tend to serve as natural travel corridors between larger blocks of cover. Every little bit helps - I wish you luck with your buffers!

 

[Foragefarmer]

Are those buffers some sort of CRP type program? Killing the sod is a must if you want to get native plants to grow on their own. I started with letting mother nature do her thing, but have since started switching to native grass plantings as it simply provides better cover in my opinion and I still let a lot of the beneficial weeds grow in it for some diversity as well. The areas along creeks and streams is very useful to wildlife as they tend to serve as natural travel corridors between larger blocks of cover. Every little bit helps - I wish you luck with your buffers!

Sort of; it is a state program to meet Virginias mandates in terms of the Chesapeake bay clean up. It is called SL-6. Virginia got much more aggressive in terms of funding for SL-6 when the EPA took over enforcement of the multi-state effort. I was already about 50% there when that happened but then Va. went to 100% cost share on SL-6 for 3 years and that made it much easier to do the second half. I did some things on my dime and also used CREP to do the same thing around my pond. But CREP pays for tree and NWSG planting, and I wanted NWSG on the house side of my pond so I would retain a view of the pond.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I love it The state pays you to plant your food plots. Well kind of. But anyway, it looks nice. And deer almost never eat grass. So keep killing the Sod.

 

[Foragefarmer]

Well I did this for my cattle. I took some of my ground out of production but they also now have fresh clean water on the whole farm and they can be more effectively rotationally grazed and thus the carrying capacity is the same or possibly slightly better. I don't have enough time in to be sure of that though.

Then I have the added benefit of more cover which is the short pole on my place. More browse and some nice travel corridors.

 

[Foragefarmer]

More bedding and fawning cover too.

 

[j-bird]

Sort of; it is a state program to meet Virginias mandates in terms of the Chesapeake bay clean up. It is called SL-6. Virginia got much more aggressive in terms of funding for SL-6 when the EPA took over enforcement of the multi-state effort. I was already about 50% there when that happened but then Va. went to 100% cost share on SL-6 for 3 years and that made it much easier to do the second half. I did some things on my dime and also used CREP to do the same thing around my pond. But CREP pays for tree and NWSG planting, and I wanted NWSG on the house side of my pond so I would retain a view of the pond.

That's cool. Glad you found a way to get some help and not have to fund the entire thing yourself.