New survey results released this week by Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for the 2025–2026 overwintering season of the eastern monarch butterfly population show encouraging progress. According to the newly released report, monarch colonies occupied 7.24 acres of forest, up from 4.42 acres during the 2024–2025 […]
One of the greatest strengths of Farmers for Monarchs is our members. When farmers, conservation organizations, and agricultural companies come together around a shared goal, real progress happens for monarchs and for working lands. Today, we’re sharing two videos from members of the Farmers for Monarchs coalition that showcase monarch conservation in action, from an […]
Each winter, monarch butterflies west of the Rocky Mountains perform one of North America’s most remarkable migrations, traveling to hundreds of overwintering sites along the California coast and a handful of inland locations in California and Arizona. The Xerces Society recently released results from the Western Monarch Count (WMC), a community science effort that tallies […]
At Farmers for Monarchs, we know that the best conservation stories come straight from the source—you. Whether you’ve enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), planted monarch and pollinator habitat, or found other creative ways to balance conservation and production, your experience can inspire and inform others across the country. We’re looking for farmers who […]
The latest annual survey of the eastern monarch butterfly population reveals a significant and hopeful increase, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Mexico and Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, who conducted the survey. During the 2024-2025 winter season, monarchs occupied 4.42 acres of forest in central Mexico, nearly doubling from the previous winter’s 2.22 […]
Recent data from the annual survey conducted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and its partners on the overwintering numbers of the eastern monarch butterfly population in central Mexico’s forests paint a concerning picture. The latest figures reveal a significant population decline, with only .9 hectares (equivalent to 2.2 acres) occupied during the 2023-2024 winter […]
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a membership union of government and civil society organizations headquartered in Switzerland, has amended its classification of the monarch butterfly on its “Red List” of threatened species. The organization initially categorized the monarch as “endangered” in 2022 but last month decided to downgrade its threatened […]
Where are the monarchs now? The monarch migration is now moving through Iowa and has entered northern Kansas. By the week of September 25th they should reach central Oklahoma. The first monarchs usually reach the border with Mexico in the first week of October. Follow their migration at Journey North. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s […]
Eastern monarch populations saw a 22 percent decrease compared to last year, according to the annual survey released this week from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico. Monarch butterflies occupied 2.21 hectares, a drop from the 2.84 hectares they occupied last year. Because it is impossible to count each butterfly, the survey measures the area of […]
The western monarch population continued its growth in 2022, according to overwintering count totals recently released by the Xerces Society. The 2022 Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count tallied 335,479 monarchs, an increase from the remarkable rebound from the previous year, which came in at nearly 250,000. The annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count surveyed 272 overwintering sites. According to the Xerces […]