The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has opened landowner applications for the 2026 Arkansas Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement program. Applications are due by May 15.
Developed by AGFC biologists to keep waste rice available for ducks, geese and other migrating waterfowl, the WRICE program incentivizes landowners and farmers to suspend fall rice tillage til spring and provide shallow water by allowing their fields to flood from November through February. They may also receive incentives for allowing wildlife viewing and permitted public hunting on their properties. Incentives can reach up to $150 per acre of land available to the AGFC, depending on how many of the program’s components a landowner agrees to.
Farmers can still operate and harvest their rice farms as normal, but can receive up to $150 per acre for land where rice stubble and flooded fields are available during the waterfowl migration period.
According to the AGFC, fall tillage isn’t beneficial to migrating waterfowl seeking food, as it buries waste rice that otherwise would have been available. Flooded rice fields provide an estimate 11% of all food energy for waterfowl migrating through the Mississippi Delta region, but that number is dwindling due to advanced agricultural practices.
The program has also recently been expanded to include an opportunity for landowners who have Wetland Reserve Easements on their property. This new portion of the program will pay landowners $50/acre to allow public access to their currently enrolled WRICE properties for hunting and wildlife-viewing throughout the year.
The AGFC will notify successful applicants by July 1. Learn more here.
