2026 Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program

The objective of the BirdReturns-2026 Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program is to incentivize farmers to create shallow wetland habitat for migrating shorebirds and other species when flooded habitat for migrating shorebirds is scarce in late summer and early fall. By maintaining shallow, mud-flat conditions on idle or harvested and unvegetated fields for a five-week period in August and September, farmers can provide critical habitat while supporting their farms and local communities.

The program can be implemented on a broad suite of croplands in the Sacramento Valley and Delta.  Eligible croplands and crops are rotating/resting croplands, and croplands that are harvested before the late summer target habitat period begins (August 3), including but not limited to wheat and other cereal grains, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, potatoes, sunflower, safflower, corn, or rice. Suitable habitat conditions have been created using both flood-irrigation and under the right conditions, subsurface drip irrigation. Fields that are capable of maintaining flooding are most successful as some past participants’ fields have been too permeable to hold water.

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Application and Notifications

APPLICATION PERIOD : Apply June 1 – June 22, 2026, by 11:59 pm by submitting an online application.

Notices of Awards and Rejections will be issued by July 20, 2026.

NEW in 2026:

• Each individual field submitted in your bid must be entered on a separate line in your application.
• There will be a 500-acre cap per property in the initial bid analysis, unless more funding becomes available.
• The Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership is collaborating with the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation to ensure BirdReturns and Bid4Birds remain closely aligned.

All bids are final once the application period is closed.

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BIRDRETURNS VS. BID4BIRDS

The two habitat incentive programs are very similar, and their application periods overlap in 2026. The Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership and the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation coordinate closely on these programs.

We encourage applicants to apply to both programs. However, if you are selected, you may only enroll a given field in one program. The table below highlights the key differences between the programs for 2026. Please contact either The Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership (birds@tnc.org) or the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation (ksesser@calrice.org) for more information.

	BirdReturns	Bid4Birds
Application Period	June 1-22	May 15-June 10
Program Timing	August 3-September 30	July 15-October 7
Budget	TBD	~$100,000 -$150,000
Crop Types	Broad suite of crop types (see below)	Rice fields
Habitat Duration	5-week contract (3- week flooding, 2-week drawdown)	3-4-week contract plus evaporative drawdown
Mosquito Abatement Fees	Fully reimbursable as long as habitat conditions are met prior to flood-up	Must be included in bid if needed

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Program Requirements

Enrollment Period

Any continuous five-week period between August 3-September 30, 2026. All enrollments will begin on a Monday. 

Practice Specifications

Program Enrollment Start Date:	> Participants may start their enrollment on any Monday between August 3 and August 31. (The application will require selection of a Monday start date.)  IMPORTANT: After enrollment, we allow flexibility of start dates in case of unforeseen circumstances only. Alteration of a start date or a need for staggered flood ups on multiple fields in close proximity must be approved in writing (or electronic correspondence).
Vegetation management requirements:	> Fields must have little to no standing vegetation, stubble, or crop residue so shorebirds can easily access the ground surface for foraging  > In fields that have recently been in production, incorporation of crop residue must take place to expose the soil  > Standing crop stubble or other emergent vegetation must not exceed 10% cover
Field prep recommendations:	Any combination of the following post-harvest crop stubble treatments and incorporation practices may be used to achieve a uniform level surface in the field and remove organic matter. These treatments are strongly recommended to comply with the program’s vegetation management requirements, achieve uniform flooding, and reduce the likelihood of mosquito propagation. Note: the following methods work for typical fields, but fields with excessive vegetation may require more passes to meet program requirements of emergent vegetation of 10% or less. – single stubble disc or chisel pass followed by single pass with a finish disc or a roller  – double pass with a stubble disc  – burn, chop, or bale followed by one of the discing combinations above
Flooding requirements:	Time Window: > Target habitat period: Maintain specified conditions for five weeks between August 3-September 30. Enrolled acreage must be fully flooded by the participant’s enrollment start date.    Water management: > WEEKS 1-3 | FLOODING: Maintain mudflat or ponded conditions (puddled to a maximum depth of 4 inches), ensuring that no less than seventy-five percent (75%) of each enrolled field is covered by water.  – In sloping fields, the shallow end should have moist soil conditions or mudflats. The deep end may be greater than 4 inches. However, fields will be deemed out of compliance if uniformly deeper than 4 inches.  > WEEKS 4-5 | EVAPORATIVE DRAWDOWN: Allow standing water to evaporate from field. Do not pull boards to drain or remove check levees.

Suitable Field Conditions:

Mosquito Abatement Considerations:

Although adequate vegetation removal and field prep will reduce mosquito propagation, enrolled fields may be treated by mosquito/vector control districts.

 All interested applicants must contact their local district representatives to notify them of their possible program enrollment and flooding dates. Growers can find their mosquito vector control district here: https://shorturl.at/zDGJS. In addition, BirdReturns program managers will notify mosquito and vector control districts of fields enrolled in the program upon property selection and landowner confirmation of willingness to enroll.

Mosquito Treatment Reimbursement: Mosquito abatement costs incurred during the habitat period on enrolled fields will be fully reimbursable by BirdReturns for the Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program in 2026 if vegetation management requirements have been met prior to field flood up. Participants are responsible for paying their Mosquito and Vector Control District directly. For reimbursement, participants must submit all mosquito abatement invoices to BirdReturns staff.

See below for Guidance on Preparing a Bid. 

Bidding and Selection

Different from most other habitat incentive programs which offer participants compensation at a fixed rate, the BirdReturns Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program requires applicants to submit bids that are informed by their unique costs and individual circumstances.

New in 2026: Participants may submit as many acres as they would like, but a 500-cap will be in effect per property, unless more funding becomes available. 

Guidance for Preparing a Bid

To prepare a competitive bid price, BirdReturns encourages applicants to consider the real costs they will incur to comply with the practice requirements. Costs to consider in preparing a bid include:

• Field prep (e.g., disking, pulling berms, pulling drains)
• Water supply
• Additional discretionary labor and field visits, needed to keep fields in compliance with program requirements
• Energy costs

Potential Mosquito Treatment Costs: Applicants should submit a bid price that excludes potential vector control treatment costs. These costs, if incurred by the participant for enrolled fields, will be fully reimbursable by BirdReturns for the Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program in 2026. The process for submitting these expenses for reimbursement will be described in all contracts issued for this year’s program.

Why the Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program Matters 

In late summer, shorebirds such as sandpipers and plovers migrate thousands of miles along the Pacific Flyway, stopping in California’s Central Valley to rest and refuel. Historically, natural wetlands throughout the valley provided ideal habitat for these birds. However, with over 90% of natural wetlands lost in California, shorebirds and many other wetland species now depend largely on post-harvest flooded agriculture.

Unfortunately, some waterbird populations are steeply declining, including shorebirds, which have seen a 40% decrease over the last 50 years. Some waterbird-friendly crops are being converted to other uses, while many crops are still in production in late summer when shorebirds most need habitat.

The BirdReturns 2026 Late Summer Farmlands Program helps ensure that shallow-flooded habitat remains on the landscape at a critical time of year so that shorebirds and other wetland species have the habitat they need to survive. By participating in this program, you’re helping to protect migratory birds and other wildlife while supporting farmers and your local community.

The BirdReturns-Late Summer Farmlands Habitat Program is managed by the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership (The Nature Conservancy, Audubon California, and Point Blue Conservation Science), with support from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.