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)