By cutting hay a few weeks later, Shenandoah Valley farmers could save both money and birds. A new conservation program is paying producers to delay mowing and grazing so threatened grassland species can safely nest.

The Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative, or VGBI, announced this month that enrollment is open through Nov. 30 for its 2026 haying and grazing season. Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the program offers up to $35 per acre to farmers in 16 counties across the Blue Ridge, northern Virginia Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley who adopt practices that protect grassland birds during their nesting season.

Farmers can qualify by delaying their first hay cut until July 1 or later or by rotating livestock out of certain fields between April 15 and July 1 — the period wh

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