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Anyone have info on how farmers get to lease Fish and Game property

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bonefreak

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Was talking with a friend today and the topic came up. He said they hunted Clinton end of December and the fields they normally hunt were mowed and there was no cover, which then concentrated guys into one remaining field and guys were walking towards each other causing an obvious safety hazzard. He wondered doesn't the Division have some pull to tell the farmer to leave the cover up til the end of the season!??!

I said, yup, it's a bunch of BS, there was a giant corn field out near Colliers Mills that was harvested for every last kernel, as the farmers are no longer required to leave 10% of their crops for wildlife and now just pay a flat lease fee.

So farmers lease our license money purchased fields, strip mine it for the crop, leave us with the drippings, and the lease money is supposed to mitigate the barren wasteland left behind once their crop is harvested, but what are we as sportsman getting in return for the Division leasing our property to a farmer....have yet to see Division late season food plots, no season long variety apple orchards ever planted, and i would shit a brick if i ever came across one of those wildlife friendly Dunstan Chestnut trees, let alone a whole Grove of them that should have been planted 50 yrs ago!!

Anyone know how much these leases go for, because it mite be worth it to get a group of guys to chip in to bid on a particular lease, win it away from the farmer, plant food plots, orchards, flood corn fields for waterfowl season, etc. I'm sure you will have to deal with guys hunting it as it would still be open fish and game land, but some guys mite get the hint its already someones spot, and with some planning, you mite be able to find an area to lease that is off the beaten path and not too easy to get to for the half hearted hunter.
 
#3 ·
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As far as I can figure out, you contact DEP and bid on certain parcels on land.

Parcels on Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) throughout the state are available for farmers to lease each year. Parcels in 2012 were auctioned for bid during 3 auctions held by Department of Environmental Protection. The WMA Lease Program differs from what is being offered on Division of Parks and Forestry property by including in-kind services as well as a rental payment. In-kind services require that farmers plant crops or do mowing on WMAs separate from their leased fields. The value of the in-kind work is deducted from the total rent payment expected. This arrangement has produced more wildlife habitat than would be achieved by the farmer solely paying cash rent.
The dates and locations for the 2012 auctions were as follows:

  • Northern Auction (Morris, Sussex and Warren counties): Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 10:30am at the Pequest Trout Hatchery, 605 Pequest Rd. Oxford, NJ 07863
  • Central Auction (Hunterdon, Middlesex, Mounmouth and Somerset counties): Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 10:00am at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, Conservation Building One Eldridge Rd. Upper Freehold Township, NJ 08691
  • Southern Auction (Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties): Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 10:00am at the Salem County Extension Office, 51 Cheney Rd. Woodstown, NJ 08098
Bidders were required to pre-register for the auctions. For more information on the parcels available for lease, and the auctions see: www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/business_ops/current_leases.htm.
Click to expand...
From: NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife - Farm Lease Auctions Information

It appears to me the deer, turkeys and bear like when corn is planted but show a lot less interest in the field when soybean is planted.

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#4 ·
NJ Fish and Game is not paying to plant the crops so why should a farmer leave his crops till the end of hunting season. He pays a lease and should be allowed to harvest the crops when they are ready to harvest. If the stop farming those fields in less then 10 years those field would be a overgrown mess. Would you rather have maintained fields or acres of thorn bushes.
 
#7 ·
bonefreak said:
Would much rather have acres of thorn bushes (rabbit cover, deer bedding area, woodcock nursery habitat, etc etc) than barren wasteland tundra
Click to expand...
not if you are the farmer. The question I have is, and not on WMA's, it is my understanding the leased farmland can only be hunter by the farmer, family and workers. If outsiders are allowed then it becomes open to all. I had to deal wit this about 15-18 years ago, what is the story today, anybody know?
 
#9 ·
The way I understand the rule is a farmer goes out to bid for the county owned property, which was funded by our taxes, license fees etc... As NJ is not full of farmers anymore, not very many famers bid on the land. Part of the bid is that you are using county land that you did not pay for to plant your crops, people who use the parks to run or walk there dogs do not care to see a rid dirt field with no wildlife, they care to walk county owned land that attracts wildlife. So to make all sides of the fence happy, the farmer puts in his bid, farms the land and is required to leave 10% of his crop up for wildlife. I sit on a few boards and have seen how cheap 100 acres of preserved land leases for in Monmouth county for farming. I understand that the cost of grain and milk is low and the cost of fuel and machinery is high. However, IMOP at this time why would a farmer buy any land in this state? Pay astronomical amounts of money for land, pay astronomical amounts of taxes on that land (even farm assessed land) and make very little harvesting when they can simply lease preserved farm land, county park land etc... at a fraction of the cost. We need to pay to play to hunt and honestly, and don't take this the wrong way as I have the utmost respect for farmers, but the cost to lease county land at such a minimal fee is leaving 10% standing crops. Now I will say, the rules vary by municipality if the farmer is allowed to hunt the land if they are farming it. Quite a few towns will not let the farmer hunt it and most certainly will not allow a deprivation permit to be issued as the farmer is not the land Owner. This is something that I do not agree with. the farmer is using this land for his livelihood and should be allowed to hunt it to control the wildlife population.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
BTW....Here's a few pics of that big field by the mills. Maggie found 1 hen bird but I missed. Some snow geese were landing in field (left middle of pic) but within a safety zone. Found 1 last cob that had a few kernels on it, but that was about it!! Snows weren't eating corn, they were eating a green type of low ground cover. Based on the proximity to where the mills is normally stocked n a few safety zones, if this field was left fallow or left standing crops, pheasants would hold over til spring! I would really be interested in how much this field is being leased for (corner of Hawkins Rd and Rt 527)
 

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#13 · (Edited)
South of 528, on the west side of Hawkins? (do you mean 528, or 537?) Across from the main entrance? those fields have always been there. I don't think that's part of Colliers. Pretty sure that's just a private farm. I HAVE seen guys goose hunt there. Always see turkeys/pheasant/ goose in those fields.
 
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bonefreak
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