Vol. 21, No. 10 
Page 3 
Lessees were given the option of paying the state either (1) a fee on the 
basis of the acreage cropped, hayed, grazed, or harvested for grass seed or ( 2 ) 
a cash percentage of the various crops involved. One lessee chose to pay a fee 
for each acre farmed; the other four lessees chose to pay a percentage of the 
grass seed and g-ain crops. An additional option added to the new leases specifies 
that lessees may substitute limestone applications for sums due the State. 
Approaching the need for limestone in this manner saves time and expense for 
both this project and DOC, since requisitions, selection of bidders (who in one 
instance was located 45 miles away from the sanctuaries), invoice vouchers, and 
correspondence with limestone dealers are all eliminated. 
Harvesting of redtop and timothy seed, hay mowing, and mowing for weed 
and brush control continue to be the primary operations used to manage nest 
cover on the sanctuaries. Relatively small acreages of soybeans or corn, wheat 
or oats, and red clover are permitted for the purpose of renovating old sods 
and providing booming grounds. Additional operations required by lessees include 
seeding redtop and red clover and fertilizing any meadows harvested for hay. 
A1 though prairie farmland in Jasper and Marion counties is commonly cash 
renting or $ 100.00 per acre, cash bids on the state-owned sanctuaries ranged 
I r °?o cA 3 t0 ^ 11,0 ° per acre for the cro P Y ea rs of 1975-76 and from $ 0.50 
to $2.50 per acre for the crop years of 1977-78. For the crop years of 1979-80, 
the one cash fee amounted to $ 3-00 per acre and the four percentage shares 
ranged from 5 to 10 percent of grass seed or grain crops. These fees or shares 
o the state are necessarily low--mainiy because of ( 1 ) the uncertainties of 
redtop seed farming; ( 2 ) the mowing, fertilizing, or other expenses incurred by 
essees, an ( 3 ) because le~sess are assessed for taxes on harvested acres. 
Land taxes averaged about $8.00 per acre in Jasper County this year. Thus, 
while the roes or shares should be fair to the state, they should be relatively 
low for these reasons. Also, the primary objective of sharecropping should be 
o accomplish as many of the necessary management operations as possible in 
°JnA /"M 0 thS ' T,:3ri hours s P er,t by project personnel on management 
and (zj acvitional costs to the Division of Wildlife Resources. 
