Absolutely. I know some would disagree, but converting farmland to whitetail habitat has been the single most beneficial strategy I have employed on my property. Let me explain: I own 40 acres in a heavily hunted area in Michigan. I also live on the property, and the farmland consisted of 12 acres in the middle of my property. I have a long, narrow parcel, and the farmland ran from one hedgerow to the other. This created a giant dead zone smack dab in the middle of my property for the majority of the year. There is no comparison between a well-managed food plot program and cropland.

My first management-based decision was to quit allowing a local farmer access to the 12 acres. He was a gentleman about the issue, but I don’t think he ever understood my reasoning. In fact, I bought the property in October, and corn was planted at that time. I only saw 7 deer total that first year and that solidified my need to make drastic changes. I had rented the house a few years prior to buying it, and I knew the potential of the property.

The first summer, I planted switchgrass, tall grass prairie, conifers, shrubs, water holes, mock scrapes, and food plots. I needed to create cover and food, because the property was only being used as a travel corridor, leaving me dependent on what my neighbors were doing. The opening morning of bow season in year two I saw 14 deer total: 10 does and 4 young bucks.

I now have the opportunity to harvest mature bucks annually. I waited my whole life to improve my own hunting property, and for me it was a no-brainer to eliminate the farming on my property. When I consider all that I have invested into my property, a small annual farming stipend doesn’t make up for the utility I now realize in whitetail management.

I am still amazed at the number of property owners that are whitetail fanatics that have not converted at least a portion of their farmland to whitetail habitat. In fact, some government programs will help pay to put ground into CRP. Even small portions of property can be converted to habitat to drastically improve the herd on your property.

In conclusion, the best management decision I’ve made on my 40 acres was to convert farmland into habitat. I did not utilize any government programs, because I simply wanted the freedom to change my property as I saw fit. I know some hate to reduce the amount of ground worked for the farmers benefit, but I could have never reached my whitetail goals if my ground was still farmed. I make no apologies for trying to reach my goals. I will stick with farming for whitetails.