Virginia Farmers Offered Cash Incentives to Help Nesting Birds Thrive

Farmers across Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Blue Ridge, and northern Piedmont regions have a new reason to delay their hay cutting this year: they can earn up to $35 per acre while helping nesting birds raise their young.

The Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative (VGBI), now in its fifth year, is expanding its popular financial incentives program to include 16 counties, with applications open through November 30 for the 2026 growing season. Farmers who join agree to delay haying until July 1 or later and/or rotate livestock out of specific pastures between April 15 and July 1, giving vulnerable grassland birds time to successfully nest and fledge their young.

“Delayed haying until at least July 1 is a game changer for birds,” said Lauria McShane, assistant with the Piedmont Environmental Council’s VGBI team. “It allows them to fledge at least one successful clutch of young. But it also gives producers flexibility during the hay season and provides mature hay that’s perfect for dry cows, horses, mushroom hay, and bedding.”

VGBI offers a win-win for both wildlife and working farms. The program is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and in addition to financial compensation, farmers receive tools and expert advice on how to implement these practices efficiently.

One of those practices, summer pasture stockpiling, involves rotating livestock out of certain fields in early spring to allow grasses to grow and be grazed later in the summer. According to McShane, this bridges what’s known as the “summer dormancy gap” by producing forage when grass growth naturally slows, reducing the need for expensive hay or summer annual crops.

“Stockpiling allows fields to rest for fall or winter grazing, with the goal of reducing the number of days farmers have to feed hay, and that can cut down annual feed costs,” McShane explained.

For farmers like Isabel Bauer in Augusta County, the benefits are environmental as well as practical. “Participating in the VGBI Initiative brought home the realization that rotational grazing, including summer stockpiling, is key to restoring the health and balance in nature as a whole,” Bauer said.

In Greene County, Francis McGuigan was amazed at the change on his property. “The results were dramatic,” he said, after seeing a flock of more than 30 goldfinches feasting on seedheads in one of his delayed-hay fields—a huge jump from the two or three he might have spotted in past years. “Not only did the bird population increase, but so did the insect, small mammal, and amphibian populations. We saw and heard the results all summer.”

McGuigan added, “I’m proud that my small farm is supporting ecosystem expansion and resilience through VGBI’s summer pasture stockpiling program.”

Michelle McKenzie, who operates Bellair Farm in Albemarle County, enrolled in both the delayed haying and pasture stockpiling options in 2024. Since then, she’s seen so many birds on her land that she’s even hosted bird walks with the Virginia Society of Ornithology’s Piedmont Bird Club. “I would absolutely recommend this program to others,” she said. “Interacting with the VGBI staff has provided networking opportunities and introduced us to other conservation programs, like installing kestrel and barn owl boxes.”

The success stories like these are encouraging signs for VGBI and its partner organizations, including Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, Piedmont Environmental Council, Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes, Quail Forever, and American Farmland Trust. Together, they are working to restore habitat for grassland birds that have suffered steep population losses.

Grassland birds are among the fastest declining bird groups in North America. According to researchers, 60 species that once relied on native grasslands have lost 53% of their populations, largely due to habitat loss. Hayfields and pastures have become important surrogate habitats, but traditional farming practices like early mowing or overgrazing often disrupt nesting cycles.

That’s why VGBI was formed—to find ways farmers can help reverse this trend while keeping their operations productive.

Since launching in 2021, the program has enrolled 57 farmers covering more than 3,600 acres with financial support, and another 37 farmers have voluntarily implemented the bird-friendly practices on an additional 3,700 acres.

Farmers interested in joining the program or learning more about wildlife-friendly practices such as native plantings, streamside restoration, or installing nesting boxes can visit vagrasslandbirds.org/incentives.

(Taken from press release)