Post-Season Ramblings - Spring 2026

[Rick]

And much of that ethanol corn at the cost of CRP habitat. BAN ETHANOL!!!

[Ericdc]

Don't underestimate the impact of simple waste grain in the corn field. Ducks and geese feed all winter long with no problem just picking up the waste grain in the fields.

https://www.louisianasportsman.com/hunting/waterfowl-duck-hunting/ducks/ending-louisianas-duck-detour/

the Midwest’s agricultural production is increasing, primarily due to the rise in popularity of ethanol. The corn-producing acreage in the United States has increased by millions of acres over the past 20 years, a scale so large that waste grain can be found on the ground as late as spring.

“Species like snow geese are actually feeding on corn during their spring migration,” Reynolds said.

There is about 27,000,000 acres of corn planted in the Midwest. The yields are up to almost 10,000 lbs/acre with a loss of about 1%, so that 2.7 billion pounds of waste corn available to deer, ducks, geese.

At 5 ounces of corn per day, that's 8.6 billion duck use days worth of corn. Divide that by 6.5 million ducks and that is 1,300 days worth of corn laying in the fields. They aren't going to remotely run out of waste corn over the course of the winter.

You just cannot underestimate the magnitude of just waste corn from 100% normal agriculture.

But flooded corn is on my Facebook more and it's easier to blame that.


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[Ducaholic]

It's not just the flooded unharvested ag. It's all of the habitat types in its entirety that have delayed migrations. Corn just gets all the press. Let's face it the guys in the mid-latitude states have wised up and figured out what combinations of habitat works best to hold ducks in some cases all season long. You match that with good pressure management, and you have a winning formula. Corn just allows them to stay through the colder weather systems that at one time would have pushed them to La. in greater numbers.

[SpinnerMan]

But flooded corn is on my Facebook more and it's easier to blame that.

I am definitely getting flooded by corn on my Facebook as well.

I'm not trying to say it plays no part. There are just many factors.

What surprised me this winter and I guess it is because it was so dry, I saw geese in bean fields pretty late in the winter. There are also 10's of millions of acres of soybeans. However, I don't think the beans hold up very long after they get wet. The geese crush those fields right after they are picked.

A large fraction of the mallards just do not go any further south than they have to. With unlimited corn in the fields, the only thing that will make them move is lack of open water or too much snow. It shocks me how easily they seem to find corn even in fields with a fair amount of snow. With all the warm water discharges and winters with a lot of warm weather between cold snaps, open water is probably not limiting until you get way north. Snow is really the only thing that would push a lot of them even with zero flooded corn.

I think flooded corn does more to concentrate the ones in the area than really short stop them. I think that isn't just about the food, but the lack of pressure. Most people that can afford flooded corn are not out there hammering it every day. A buddy of mine knows a guy that has flooded corn even though he hasn't hunted ducks in a long time. He likes feeding "his" ducks. The one flooded corn near where I hunt near the cooling lake, I think I heard they only hunt it a couple times a week. This compared to most places that are hunted every day. The birds definitely respond to pressure. I just saw a study about that.