Beasts Of Burden Beasts Of Burden

In this episode, I decided to share the frustrations of owning equipment and the rising costs of maintaining equipment. I go over the acres I have drilled over the years and how much the demand for services fluctuate and how much the government through CRP can influence that. I explain the difference for me how manageing forestry is more profitable and larger habitat impact vs driving a tractor up and down the road. I have enjoyed my time doing the custom work, but I'd rather leave the tractor parked for now and enjoy the time with family working the farm and watching my kids grow up.

In this episode, I talk about different options for tree plantings with having the least amount of enviornmental impact for the future. I talk about having an early successional plant community in your tree planting. You may have to use some hardcore herbicides the fall prior to have the most effective cool season grass kill so you do not have to spray again or avoid the annual pre-emergent applications for 3-5 years.

In this episode I give an update on the challenges of a wet spring in southeast Iowa as a habitat contractor and a farm hand. I go over my battle of Candida a viscous little fungus that ruins your gut. I also talk about the turkey season. It was not successful, however the habitat work has paid off and I learned a lot about this bird. I am obsessed and can't wait to pursuit the turkey again.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Marcus Lashley. Dr. Lashley is host of Fire University is co-host of the Wild Turkey Science. Dr. Marcus is assistant Professor at the University of Florida's Department of Wildlife and Ecology. In this episode, we discussed more about fire ecology, but also discussed fire behavior and safety. Fire is one of the ultimate tools in wildlife management, but there is a time and place. Inappropriate times will lead to disaster. Let's use prescribed fire in the safest way, but also the most effective way.
Fire University Podcast:
https://fireuniversity.libsyn.com/
Wild Turkey Science
https://turkeysfortomorrow.org/wild-turkey-science-podcast/

Forest Service s130 and s190 Online Training:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/angeles/fire/?cid=FSEPRD1059372

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Doug Duren. Doug is a hunter, land specalist, and conservationist of Cazenovia, Wisconsin. Doug manages his family farm and it has been in his family for 115 years. Doug has started Sharing the Land Initiative. Sharing the Land Initiative is a network to connect hunters looking for access to hunt with landowners to acheive stewarding the land together as a partnership. Doug has also contributed tremendously to Meat Eater.
Folks, I had a lot of questions for Doug, but I asked him about the Sharing the Land Initiative and I just let him roll! I could listen to him talk all day and I immensely enjoyed this conversation and hope you all do as well!

Doug Duren Website: https://www.dougduren.com/aboutdoug
Sharing the Land: https://www.sharingtheland.com/

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Iowa's Department of Natural Resources own Deer Biologist, Jace Elliott. Jace has a Bachelors of Science in Conservation Biology of University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Science in Wildlife Biology of University of Auburn. Jace and I talked about the need for prescribed fire to promote early successional plant communities. We talked about manager deer numbers focuisng primarily on does and how to conduct deer surveys. The current state of the deer population across the state of Iowa. Jace and I also talked about EHD and CWD and what the future holds for the health of the deer herd of Iowa. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!