Maier’s Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed Farm Recognized as First Audubon Certified Bird-Friendly Habitat in Minnesota

CLEARWATER, Minn. (July 23, 2025) — The Nationwide Audubon Society is proud to announce the Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed Farm, positioned close to Clearwater, Minnesota, and owned and operated by Matt Maier, as the primary farm or ranch within the state to be designated Audubon Licensed Chook-Pleasant Land by the group’s Audubon Conservation Ranching program. The certification acknowledges lands managed for birds and biodiversity.  

Audubon Conservation Ranching is a partnership with ranchers to maintain wholesome grasslands, considerable birdlife, and resilient rural communities. By the certification, taking part farms and ranches meet rigorous requirements for habitat administration, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare—verified by third-party audits. As soon as licensed, producers are eligible to make use of the Audubon Licensed Chook-Pleasant seal on packaging. By buying merchandise from Audubon Licensed Chook-Pleasant Lands, customers turn into conservationists, serving to defend America’s grasslands and the birds, wildlife, and folks that depend upon them. 

Maier’s house farm is joined by the whole thing of the supply ranch community – 14 impartial, family-owned ranches throughout the Midwest and Nice Plains – for his model, Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed, in incomes the Audubon certification. This implies grassfed beef merchandise from Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed – obtainable at greater than 2,500 retail areas nationwide – will start carrying the Audubon Licensed Chook-Pleasant seal, the certification’s bundle designation. Nationwide, 127 ranches have earned the Audubon Chook-Pleasant Land certification, including as much as greater than 3 million acres underneath bird-friendly administration.  

“This certification isn’t just a stamp—it’s a recognition of land stewardship that highlights how working farms and ranches can work for birds too,” stated Sarah Hewitt, Senior Conservation Supervisor for Audubon’s Higher Mississippi River area. “Grassland birds have declined by 43% since 1970, and greater than half of grassland-dependent hen species are in steep decline. Applications like Audubon Conservation Ranching are important in reversing these developments by conserving the very habitat these birds must survive.” 

For Maier, the designation displays greater than a conservation purpose—it displays a lifestyle. 

“On our farm, the sound of birds chirping, bugs buzzing, and lightning bugs flickering isn’t simply ambiance—it’s an indicator that our land is alive,” stated Matt Maier, proprietor of Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed. “Cattle thrive right here, however they’re only one a part of a much bigger system. The best way we graze builds soil, protects water, and helps birds and different wildlife. Getting this certification from Audubon confirms we’re doing proper by the land.”  

Audubon Grassland Ecologist Krysten Zummo labored alongside Maier to create and implement a habitat plan for the farm tailor-made to learn grassland-dependent hen species. She says quite a bit goes into bird-friendly administration–from managing invasive species to reducing out chemical use–however it revolves round utilizing rotational grazing to create a various mosaic of habitat that helps grassland birds by their life cycles, offering for nesting, foraging, and canopy from predators and the weather.” 

“Grazing on this method permits for longer relaxation durations, ample residual construction for grassland nesting birds, and promotes plant variety, richness, root progress, and plant vigor. This regrowth can also be good for the cattle’s subsequent buffet,” she stated. As a knowledge level, she notes that standard farms could have just one lot or pasture, whereas Maier’s farm has a setup to make use of 180 completely different pasture zones, that are rested 40-60 days between grazing. Zummo factors to the preliminary hen surveys on the farm–which confirmed precedence grassland species, together with Bobolinks, Dickcissels, Grasshopper Sparrows, Savanna Sparrow, Sedge Wrens, and Vesper Sparrows–as proof of a super patchwork of grassland habitat. 

Funding for the Audubon Conservation Ranching program in Minnesota is offered by the Minnesota Setting Pure Assets Belief Fund, the Nationwide Fish and Wildlife Basis, and the USDA Pure Assets Conservation Service. Further conservation companions embrace Geese Limitless, Land Stewardship Undertaking, Minnesota Board of Water Soil Assets, Minnesota DNR, Minnesota Grazing Lands Conservation Affiliation, Sustainable Farming Affiliation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the USFWS Companions for Fish and Wildlife Program. 

For extra details about the Audubon Conservation Ranching program in Minnesota, please contact Krysten Zummo. For extra details about Audubon Conservation Ranching nationwide, contact ConservationRanching@Audubon.org.   

About Audubon Conservation Ranching 

Audubon Conservation Ranching companions with ranchers to maintain wholesome grasslands, considerable birdlife, and resilient rural communities. By our bird-friendly land certification and science-based strategy, we empower land stewards to reinforce habitat, enhance soil well being and water high quality, and strengthen the connection between conservation and ranching. By buying merchandise from Audubon Licensed Chook-Pleasant Land, customers turn into conservationists, serving to defend America’s grasslands and the birds, wildlife, and folks that depend upon them. For extra info, go to www.audubon.org/ranching.  

About Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed

Based in 2003, Thousand Hills works with dozens of household farms throughout the U.S. to boost Lifetime Grazed Grass Fed Beef with regenerative agriculture practices. To this point, 600,000 acres have been transitioned to regenerative practices to assist organic variety, pure assets, native wildlife habitat and soil fertility. Regional, decentralized processing builds a resilient provide chain for patrons whereas invigorating rural economies. A frontrunner within the business, Thousand Hills produces the #1 contemporary protein product nationally within the pure channel. The corporate’s mission: Nourishing soil, crops, cattle and folks by grazing cattle for his or her lifetime. 

Media contact:

Anthony Hauck, Communications Supervisor, Audubon Conservation Ranching, Anthony.Hauck@audubon.org