MDA Deadline for Aerial Planting of Cover Crops Extended to October 8

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Due to weather conditions, the Maryland Department of Agriculture has extended the October 1 aerial planting deadline for farmers who have signed up to plant cover crops this fall with the Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share (MACS) Program.

Farmers now have until October 8, 2015 to aerially plant qualifying cover crops on their fields to help control soil erosion and recover any unused plant nutrients remaining on their fields from summer crops. Only the following cover crop species are eligible for this extension: barley, rye, wheat and triticale. Farmers must certify their cover crop acreage with the local soil conservation district by October 14, 2015 in order to be reimbursed for associated seed, labor and equipment costs.

“Weather conditions have delayed aerial cover crop applications this fall,” said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. “Extending the planting deadline will allow farmers to plant more acres of protective cover crops on their fields to achieve greater water quality benefits for streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.”

Cover crops are cereal grains that grow in cool weather. They help slow down rainwater runoff during the winter, when the soil would otherwise be exposed, while recycling any nutrients remaining in the soil from the previous summer crop.

Earlier this summer, Maryland farmers signed up to plant a record 656,170 acres of cover crops this fall.  Maryland farmers have exceeded the Watershed Implementation Plan milestone goals in 2011, 2013 and 2015 for cover crops and are on track to exceed the next two year milestone in 2017 with this new record enrollment acreage. Cover crops are one of the most cost-effective means of helping to restore the Chesapeake Bay.

Maryland’s Cover Crop program is funded by the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund and the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund.  For additional information on the Cover Crop Program, farmers should visit their local soil conservation district or contact the MACS office at 410-841-5864.

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