Are you are planning to idle any rice acres this growing season? If so, the California Rice Commission’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), in collaboration with NRCS, might have a program for you. We are currently soliciting applications for rice fields that can provide quality nesting cover for waterfowl during the spring and summer. We are interested in rice fields that will be idled during the 2023 growing season and currently have cover crops or significant volunteer vegetation on them. This Program pays rice farmers to leave vegetation undisturbed for the waterfowl nesting season (through July 15) and allow access to monitor nesting activity. To sign up, please visit your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office and ask about this practice.
Program Details:
- Must have idle rice fields for this growing season
- Must have vegetation on the fields suitable for nesting birds (cover crops are preferred but volunteer plants can be acceptable as well)
- Must have brood water nearby through July 15 (i.e. ponds, flooded rice field, irrigation canal)
- Leave the fields undisturbed from April 1 to July 15
- Payment rate: $24.71/acre
For general questions contact Ian Souza-Cole from Audubon at (530) 312-0809 or ian.souzacole@audubon.org; otherwise please visit your local NRCS office to apply!
