Year Two MFGA Bird Survey Taking Off On the Wings of Soil Health

2024 MFGA Bird Survey Wingspans Nine MFGA-network Regenerative Agriculture Farms across Six types of Farm Operations

WINNIPEG, MB, June 27, 2024 /CNW/ - Expert bird surveyors are putting their eyes and ears to work on nine regenerative agriculture-practicing farms as Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA)'s second consecutive bird survey wingspans across six different types of farming operations.

MFGA will once again join forces with the Manitoba Wildlife Branch and the Manitoba Important Bird Area (IBA) Program to survey and better understand the benefits of soil-focused, regenerative agriculture practices and intact natural habitats to birds – with a target on species at risk such as Bobolink and Sprague's Pipit. An ongoing exchange agreement with Birds Canada remains in place to see some of the MFGA farms surveyed overlaid with a separate, ongoing Birds Canada initiative.

Four farms comprised of mixed, forage/beef, dairy and grain operations were surveyed in last year's MFGA survey. All have returned. MFGA has added bison, sheep and one more each of dairy, grain and mixed farms to this year's mix.

"Last year, we focused on four different farms using regenerative agriculture practices with hopes of benchmarks around bird populations, specifically how the birds are interacting with or responding to the respective regen ag farming practices," said Mike Duguid, MFGA Chair. "The results were super encouraging, in fact, so much so that five more farms from our MFGA Board table put their hands up to be part this year after our inaugural survey last year was capped at four farms."

The survey could not fly without the leadership and expertise of Tim Poole and the in-kind contribution of Manitoba Wildlife Department as well as the keen eyes of IBA's Marissa Berard and Meredith Stoesz. Most costs associated with the 2024 MFGA bird survey will be covered by MFGA.

"The MFGA motivation is simple," said Duguid, whose Interlake-region mixed farm will be part of the 2024 survey. "Many of our MFGA farms in our 2024 survey are non-stereotypical farms that are not traditionally looked at for determining bird abundance, while others simply fall outside the usual areas often relied upon to determine bird counts on Manitoba agriculture lands."

Duguid also pointed out that "MFGA farms practicing regenerative agriculture often strive to work with nature and consider bird abundance as key indicators of their overall farm health, especially healthy soil and intact habitats such as grasslands and wetlands."

MFGA vice-chair Zack Koscielny's family farm, Green Beach Farm & Food near Strathclair, Manitoba, is back in the survey again this year.

"We are very excited for the opportunity to be involved in MFGA's bird surveys for a second year," said Koscielny. "As we have made some changes to our management, we have observed improvements in forage production and biodiversity, specifically in bird populations. It was really encouraging to hear from an expert third party that they counted a number of bird species at risk on our farm during their survey last year."

As with last year, data collected will include a record of each species detected, number of individuals, distance from observer and a breeding code.

"We will use this data to calculate the abundance per point count for each species," said Berard. "This data will be used to demonstrate the importance of different regenerative agricultural systems for various bird species."

Each producer will provide a listing of their farm practices and will receive a report of results, including map of points, and location of species of interest on their farms. A bird surveyors report will also be at the 2024 MFGA Regenerative Agriculture Conference outlining the overall results. MFGA will use the information as needed benchmarks and future accelerants to support the great work farmers are doing for biodiversity, habitats and soil health.

SOURCE Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA)

For more information: Duncan Morrison, MFGA Executive Director, [email protected], 204.770.3548