The annual sign-up period for the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Cover Crop Program will take place from June 21 through July 17 at soil conservation district offices statewide. This popular grant program provides farmers with cost-share assistance to offset seed, labor, and equipment costs to plant fall cover crops to protect local water quality, build healthy soils, and capture carbon from the atmosphere. “This planting season, we are excited to offer new incentive payments to plant mixed species to help farmers increase biodiversity and protect against weather extremes,” said Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks. “For the tech-savvy farmer, we’ve added drones as an efficient and cost-effective aerial seeding option.” Fall-planted cover crops provide a range of water quality, soil health, and climate benefits. In addition to protecting local streams and the Chesapeake Bay from nutrient and sediment runoff, they also add organic matter to the soil, control weeds and pests, and help protect fields from too much or too little rain. Cover crops can also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the soil to help mitigate climate change. Maryland’s Cover Crop Program provides grants to farmers who plant a variety of small grains and […]
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