TOLSTOY -- Eric Johannsen says there's been a demonization of the American farmer.
Especially in South Dakota, and as pheasant numbers declined in past years, outdoor enthusiasts have pointed fingers at farmers and agriculture producers.
As grain prices increased, more ground was planted and pheasant numbers rapidly declined, it was the farmer that unfairly became scapegoat, Johannsen said.
"Really, to run a business, and to have the risks there are, to manage the risks, and to have a couple years where you're making money, you can't blame those farmers," Johannsen said Thursday evening after hosting a group of hunters on his family farm south of Tolstoy. "They're playing the cards they're dealt. Every business owner has to look at maximizing their potential. There's nothing wrong with that."
Johannsen, 37, is a fourth-generation farmer and rancher. He runs the farm with his father and older brother.
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He also has a deep passion for wildlife.
As he walked through rows of corn and sorghum Thursday afternoon, hundreds of pheasants flushed and, after shots rang from gun barrels, birds were crushed.
Johannsen, though, explained everything that's done on his farm, which has 5,000 acres of tillable land, first has an emphasis toward agriculture and livestock production. He then considers how those decisions will affect wildlife.
While he's grown tired of the blame put on farmers, Johannsen has a proven method that agriculture producers can still be profitable while keeping wildlife populations thriving.
"The burden of wildlife falls on the farmer and rancher," he said.
The formula is a mixture of cycling fields that are grazed, rotating four types of crops and utilizing natural habitat areas.
On his farm are 480 acres split into six, 80-acre sections that are grazed from July 1 to mid-October. He cycles cattle through each section for five to seven days and then moves them into a new section. That way, each section has a chance to sit for more than a month before it's grazed again.
He does this rather than the traditional way of grazing that typically is to open a gate and let cattle chow away, and he said the agriculture benefits have showed. Plants are growing faster and they hold moisture, which helps absorb moisture and avoid runoff.
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"It takes time because so much of this grass has been over-grazed," he said. "But now, the idea that it looks like we just turned these cattle into the pasture, and we're actually taking them out, that's what we're after. Take half and leave half, that's the goal."
He talked about rotating crops, more than just corn and beans, and the importance of planting spring and winter wheat, and sunflowers. When deciding what to plant where, Johannsen makes certain there's everything the birds need, from food to cover to water, and it's all in close proximity.
And his farm is completely no-till, which he said, "It's for soil health, and soil conservation, not necessarily wildlife habitat."
He also touched on why he leaves natural habitat areas, like cattail sloughs and native pothole regions, alone, for the most part.
He understands there's no benefit to tilling up a slough and trying to plant it, simply because water will flood that area in wet years. He estimated that his farm cuts only one-third of native prairie areas for hay each year.
It seems like his decisions have been working. At his farm, there's a wagon-red shed that swells with heat during chilly December days, and on the walls are photos of massive deer and limits and limits of pheasants.
"I just want to share the story that we're doing it, and it works," he said.
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