“Grazing the Bar” for Grassland Bird Conservation with Beef and Dairy Farms in MN, IA, and WI

Audubon will customize and expand its successful 2017-CIG-supported Conservation Ranching program to beef and dairy producers to benefit grassland health, producers’ bottom lines, and grassland bird species currently in decline. This project will provide producers with enhanced financial and technical assistance for the swift uptake and deployment of these NRCS-prioritized conservation practices across 2,000 acres: 512 Pasture and Range Planting, 338 Prescribed Burning, 314 Brush Management, 382 Fence, and 516 Livestock Pipeline. Additional project elements include: (1) payment to producers for each year that Audubon’s regional priority bird species are identified on-site through avian monitoring; (2) a social evaluation study to probe what motivates and/or deters producers from joining this program to increase its uptake, and (3) soil analysis and modeling to determine the practices’ climate smart viability.