MDA Deadline for Planting Cover Crops Extended to November 12

ANNAPOLIS, MD (November 3, 2011) Due to a late harvest and heavy fall rains resulting in saturated soil conditions, the Maryland Department of Agriculture has extended the November 5 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 November 12 to plant qualifying cover crops of rye, wheat and triticale on their fields to help control soil erosion and recover any unused plant nutrients remaining on their fields. The extension is only available to farmers who use the following planting methods:  no till, conventional, or broadcast with light, minimum or vertical tillage. Farmers must certify their cover crop acreage with the local soil conservation district by November 18 in order to be reimbursed for associated seed, labor and equipment costs.

“Many areas of the state have experienced historic rainfall amounts this fall, not to mention the unusually early snowstorm which delayed harvests and prevented many farmers from planting their cover crops as planned,” said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “Extending the planting deadline will allow farmers enrolled in our Cover Crop Program to plant more acres of protective cover crops on their fields and achieve maximum water quality benefits for the streams and rivers that feed 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. During the 2010-2011 planting season, Maryland farmers planted a record 400,330 acres of cover crops on their farms. By far the largest cover crop planting in the program’s history, the 2010-2011 planting prevented an estimated 2.4 million pounds of nitrogen and 80,000 pounds of phosphorus from impacting local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

Earlier this summer, Maryland farmers signed up to plant 550,000 acres of cover crops this fall. The planting extension will help these farmers get their cover crops in the ground and meet Maryland’s Phase I Watershed Implementation Plan goals for cover crops.

Farmers participating in the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Cover Crop Program should contact their local soil conservation district to determine how this extension may impact their NRCS contracts.

Maryland’s Cover Crop program is funded by the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund with additional support from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration 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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