Can Wildlife Improve Your Bottom Line?

This comes to us from Jimmy Doyle, South Dakota State Natural Resource Management Field Specialist, and iGrow a service of South Dakota State University Extension. As the fall harvest wraps up and this year’s calf crop is weaned, many producers may be nervous about what their paychecks will look like for 2016. In tough market conditions, it can be tempting to try to squeeze just a bit more production out of the land. However, these incremental increases in production often come at the cost of increasingly expensive inputs and may jeopardize the long-term health of your natural resources. Instead, these conditions might be an ideal time to prioritize wildlife and habitat conservation, and be creative about how these often untapped resources can be used to provide additional income during the lean years. Hunting Ventures & Additional Income An obvious starting point when considering how to earn additional income from natural resources is through hunting. Beyond that initial point, it quickly becomes complicated. Hunting ventures, like any other enterprise, exist on a wide spectrum of inputs and profitability. The potential for profit varies widely with how much labor, infrastructure, and marketing effort you are willing to commit. Some of the options, generally in order of low to high input/income include: • Public access leases – administered through programs such as South Dakota's Game, Fish and Parks’ Walk-In Area program. These require very little in