November 2019 CATTLE COUNTRY 13
Cattle producers help protect endangered birds
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The fencing enabled him to add some extra acres for grazing while the watering system provides an alternate watering source. “All three projects were very beneficial,” Jason says. “It was a great program. I’m very glad to be part of it.” What do fences and watering systems have to do with preserving natural habitat for birds? A lot, says Tom Moran, MHHC’s habitat conservation specialist for the Boissevain region. “These are permanent cover native prairie pastures because someone’s using them to graze cattle,” Moran says. “The fencing and watering are all part of what it takes to keep cattle on the land and to keep that land dedicated to native prairie cover.” While the project is new, the concept behind it is thousands of years old, Moran continues. “In the past it was bison grazing the prairies. Now they’re gone, so we’re using cows. If not for that, we wouldn’t have a lot of these areas. In terms of grazing, it keeps the prairie vibrant.” Sopuck says the loss of grasslands is far more serious than people realize. These days, fires in the Amazon rain forest get all the attention when it comes to destroying natural habitat. But the grassland ecosystem throughout North America is at an even greater risk, Thurs., Feb 1 as grassland is increasingly converted into annual crop production. Tues., Feb 6
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broken up for crops, which reduces its value for species at risk. When it ended this spring, SARPAL had 35 participating landowners and 21,000 acres of projects, Sopuck said. All projects were in southwestern Manitoba, a hotspot for bird species at risk. While it’s hard to prove if SARPAL is stabilizing bird populations, Sopuck is confident the program has made a difference. “I can’t say what the impact was on certain species. But from the standpoint of the program -- and I’ve got almost four decades in this game -- to me it’s one of the most successful programs I’ve been involved with,” he says. Projects funded by SARPAL include barbed wire and electric fencing, portable watering systems, portable power sources, hydro installation and dugout construction. SARPAL pays for materials and the landowner provides the labour. One producer benefiting from SARPAL is Jason Wickham, along with his wife Jennifer and their children, who farms with his father Don south of Waskada in Manitoba’s extreme southwest corner. The program helped him install a solar powered watering system which draws water from a small dam reservoir and pumps it into a trough for cattle to drink from. He also erected some fencing and had a new dugout excavated.
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If you’re a bird lover, or even if you’re not, the news is grim. Bird populations in North America are declining at an alarming rate, raising fears about an ecological catastrophe in the making. The latest warning comes from the U.S.-based National Audubon Society, which issued a report October 10 claiming about two-thirds of bird species in North America could face eventual extinction because of a warming global climate. “We are in the midst of a bird emergency,” Audubon CEO David Yarnold was quoted as saying. Another study, appearing in late September in Science magazine, estimated 2.9 billion birds of various species in Canada and the United States have vanished since 1970, a population drop of 29 per cent. Closer to home, a report titled The State of Canada’s Birds 2019, issued in June by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (Canada), found that total grassland bird populations in this country have fallen by 57 per cent since 1970, making for a loss of 300 million birds. The disturbing news has renewed demands for action to stem the decline in bird populations. One of those efforts comes from a largely unheralded group: Manitoba cattle farmers. A three-year $750,000 project by Manitoba Beef
Producers, which wrapped up March 31, 2019, aimed at protecting endangered bird species by conserving and enhancing their natural habitat. That habitat includes grasslands. And that makes cattle producers a natural fit for helping to preserve grassland birds, the most threatened bird species in Canada. “(Grasslands) are the last refuges for species at risk. We want to work with producers to help ensure those grasslands stay as grass and that there are management approaches to help their bottom line and ensure land habitat for species at risk,” says Tim Sopuck, CEO of Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation. The program is called Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL). Funding comes from Environment and Climate Change Canada. MHHC delivered the project for Manitoba Beef Producers and is currently working with Ottawa and MBP to hopefully develop a second three-year agreement, Sopuck said. Because beef producers use prairie lands as pasture, SARPAL is designed to help producers manage native habitat to benefit species at risk, mainly birds. Grassland birds nest on the ground and rely on surrounding vegetation to hide from predators. Supporting beef producers through SARPAL keeps grassland in production instead of being
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“When you look at the rate of loss of grassland, it is the biggest conservation concern when it comes to habitat on the planet,” Sopuck says. Most people would agree with the importance of maintaining grasslands, keeping them healthy and providing habitat for wildlife. But there’s a problem. To keep those acres in grass requires a viable cattle industry and viability for beef producers is hard to come by these days. Manitoba’s cattle industry has experienced a steady series of setbacks for nearly 20 years, beginning with BSE in 2003 and continuing with U.S. country of origin labeling, E. coli, depressed markets, flooding and, especially this past summer, hay shortages due to drought. As a result, producers are leaving the industry and beef cow numbers in Manitoba have declined steadily. Instead of herd rebuilding, there’s herd liquidation. All of which underlines the fact that, in order to keep land in grass and provide habitat for wildlife, you need a strong cattle industry. “If we keep losing cattle numbers, we’re going to continue to lose grassland acres,” says Kristine Tapley, a Ducks Unlimited Canada regional agrologist. “You can see that correlation. As beef numbers go down, so do grass acres. The most Butcher Sale important thing is that we Bredany Cow Sale don’t lose more because we don’t get it back. Feeder Sale
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“We will not have a viable grassland bird population without the beef industry,” Tapley, a cattle producer from Langruth, adds. “I truly believe that. It’s one of the only ways you can have an economic return from a grassland ecosystem without ruining it.” Cattle take a public relations beating these days because of their greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to global warming. Yet SARPAL offers an example of how cattle, far from damaging the environment, actually help protect it, says Larry Thomas, environment manager for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “Until recently there hasn’t been a lot of recognition in the popular press about that,” Thomas says. “But recently we’ve seen some initiatives where conservation groups are recognizing the critical role cattle play in the health of the ecosystem and the fact that we need cattle on these ecosystems.” Tom Teichroeb, Manitoba Beef Producers president, said MBP is pleased to have worked with MHHC on SARPAL. “There was strong interest in the initiative from producers in the target area of southwestern Manitoba -- an indication of their commitment to carefully stewarding their land,” says Teichroeb. 9:00 am; “Cattle and wildlife both 1:00 pmare benefit when grasslands more productive. ” am 9:00
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