Tree planting is part of my heritage. My grandfather, Lars Negstad, took over a partially completed homestead in Brookings Country, SD. in 1885. He planted a large, horseshoe shaped, grove of trees around the buildings. This grove was maintained by my father, Albert, while he farmed the land, as did my brother, David, and my nephew Wayne is doing today. David also added terraces to the farm to control water and erosion. On some of these terraces he planted trees.
When I enrolled 64 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program 5 years ago some options were available under terms of the contract. Most of the acres are in native grasses, some of which I burned recently. There was also the option of putting 10% of the acreage into a food plot for wildlife thus my adventures in corn planting. In addition I could plant an addition 10% in trees, which I did, planting 2400 trees.
The Brookings County Soil Conservation District sells replacement trees for those that died at low cost. Last year I ordered 75 Eastern Red Cedar at a dollar a piece. There was a mix up in my order and I didn't get the trees. This year, with the predicted drought, I decided not to order any. However, this year the District contacted me and told me to come get my trees; the ones I ordered last year.
It rained 4 inches on this land last week so I took the offer of trees as a sign and took them. They actually gave me 100 trees, so Monday I hand planted them. The moist ground gives them a good chance of survival. They are bare root, perhaps 3 or 4 years old, from six inches to a foot tall, with at least a foot of roots. Two years ago I planted 200 in a day while it rained. This year it was good weather and 100 was quite enough for the day.
The adjacent burn area is now 80% green. I anxiously await to see how the grass grows back.
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