Farmers delay first hay harvest to help threatened bird species raise their young

From recycling electronics to delayed harvests in P.E.I., Earth Day highlights local and global efforts to protect the planet. Maria Sarrouh reports.

ALBION CROSS, P.E.I. – Some Prince Edward Island farmers are holding off on their first hay cut to help threatened bobolinks raise their young before machinery moves into the field.

While many would start early in the summer, that’s also when grassland birds are nesting low in forage fields. Bobolinks have been listed as threatened under Canada’s Species at Risk Act since 2017. By pushing the hay harvest to mid-July, farmers give chicks time to fledge without disturbing the habitat.

“I just think they’re really fascinating,” said Melaney Matheson, who runs Springwater Farm with her husband George. “They have a really neat song. They bob along in the air when they fly.”

The couple usually start to notice the birds back in their fields when walking their dogs. Their operation, which focuses on sheep, hay and straw, farms more than 300 acres of land, about 25 of which are dedicated to delayed haying.

Across P.E.I., 57 landowners enrolled more than 1,800 acres in the delayed-haying program last year, according to Island Nature Trust, which monitors the fields. More than 500 adult bobolinks were identified using them.

Matheson said the birds are only on the property for a short stretch before heading to South America.

“You can tell when they fledge, when the babies come out of the nest, because all of a sudden there’s all kinds of them,” she said with a laugh. “And then one day you go for a walk and they’re all gone. Literally.”

George Matheson said they’re a joy to have around.

“It’s helping the birds, and it’s helping conservation,” he said, gesturing to a tree the bobolinks are often seen perched in and singing.

A 2022 federal status report says the Canadian bobolink population fell about 73 per cent from 1970 to 2019, with habitat loss among the main drivers.

Around 80 per cent of the country’s native prairie grasslands have been lost, says Jordan Sinclair, CEO of Alus Canada. The national charity backs farmer-led conservation projects on working land.

“So what can we do? We can support farmers who are growing these grasses, these hays,” Sinclair said. “By doing that, we’re bringing back the habitat while not taking it out of agricultural production. It’s a really beautiful example of people and nature coming together, and leaving space for these birds to recover and live.”

ALUS offers financial incentives for participating in the program. In P.E.I., provincial guidelines list delayed hay cutting and deferred grazing at $62 a hectare per year, or about $25 an acre, for fields cut or grazed after July 15.

It depends on where they are in the country, but Sinclair says many farmers cut hay two or three times in an average year, and sometimes four. Holding off affects their bottom line, which is why payment structures are set locally to reflect different land values, operating costs and productivity.

Across Canada in 2025, ALUS supported 443 farmers managing more than 21,000 acres of modified agricultural projects, a category that includes delayed haying and sustainable grazing management.

“I want to keep seeing more and more farmers participate,” she said. “I want to keep supporting those farmers and then having this bird rebound and get off that threatened list.”