To Grow Grassland Habitat, Conservationists Try a New Incentive: Cash for Birds

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Matt Maier was happy to leave behind the constant chores of a family farm to study business, not agriculture, in college. But a couple of decades later, when Maier had children of his own, a dream of raising them on the land took root. So he bought 120 acres of degraded land beside his parents’ Minnesota parcel and, in 2003, began grazing cattle.

Since he’d left, however, “things had changed quite dramatically,” he says. Other small livestock farms were gone, replaced by corn and soy. The fireflies Maier remembered bottling on summer nights had vanished.

So it goes across the heartland. In the United States and Canada, growers plow up around 2 million acres of prairie each year to plant row crops. Birds have vanished, too. With less nesting habitat, grassland species have suffered the steepest declines among North American birds.

The vast majority of what remains is privately owned. To save it, a variety of conservation programs aim to support livestock producers whose practices reinvigorate grassland ecosystems. In rotational grazing, for example, ranchers divide their land into paddocks and cycle cattle between them. As grass regrows in the areas without cattle, a variety of habitats emerge to support diverse species—tall growth for nesting Grasshopper Sparrows and more recently grazed patches for Horned Larks and Long-Billed Curlews. “We really want to help these ranchers stay on the land,” says Maggi Sliwinski, a rangeland ecologist who works with ranchers in Canada. “They’re the ones keeping the grasslands grass.”

Since 2017 Audubon’s Conservation Ranching program has zeroed in on livestock as a lifeline to birds across some 2.8 million acres and counting. Participants who manage habitat in bird-friendly fashion can earn a seal that helps market their products to consumers. Dave Haubein, whose Missouri operation was the first to be certified, says regenerative grazing also yields richer beef from healthier animals. “It’s transformed this ranch,” he says.

The program’s newest phase, funded by a $2.5 million USDA grant, aims to spread those benefits. Dubbed Grazing the Bar, the five-year pilot project offers Midwest farmers an enticing incentive: cold, hard cash if Audubon scientists find Grasshopper Sparrows, Upland Sandpipers, or other priority species on their property. Audubon will also cut checks for producers who adopt USDA conservation practices such as prescribed burning. The co-op Organic Valley, meanwhile, will help gauge the bird-friendliness of organic, grass-fed dairies.

The partners will see which strategies create the biggest impact, then expand them to more states. Their hope is to enable farmers to let grass grow on land that could otherwise generate more lucrative crops. “We’re in this mindset with American agriculture that every acre counts,” says rancher and Audubon grassland ecologist Ashly Steinke.

In Minnesota, the 1,000 acres Maier has restored now teem with grassland birds, he says, and his farm is on track for Audubon certification by the end of 2024. As he sees it, reviving the prairie is an opportunity to honor his parents. “Everyone said they were crazy for buying this land because it wasn’t very suited for grain production,” he says. “A generation later, it’s perfect for grazing. And for wildlife. And for rebuilding.”

This story originally ran in the Winter 2024 issue as “Cash for Birds.” To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.