Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot County Farmers Encouraged to Sign Up for Healthy Soils Grants

Deadline to Apply is March 20

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Farmers in Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties who are interested in obtaining financial and technical support to establish healthy soil practices on their farms have until March 20 to apply for assistance through their local soil conservation district offices.

This funding opportunity is made possible by a federal grant secured by the Maryland Department of Agriculture to support the installation of healthy soil practices that allow farmers to gain experience using the latest technological advances. In 2018, the department received a five-year, $1 million Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Conservation practices eligible for funding and technical assistance include the following:

• Adaptive management;
• Multi-species cover crops;
• Conservation crop rotations;
• Variable rate technology for applying nutrients;
• Residual and tillage management;
• Precision nutrient management;
• Edge-of-field tools to identify and reduce agricultural sources of excess nutrients;
• Composting;
• Forage and biomass plantings;
• And other practices that support and enhance soil health.

Farmers in participating counties should contact their soil conservation district by March 20 to apply for this program.

To learn more about Conservation Partnership Program projects in Maryland, farmers should visit Maryland NRCS. For more information about Maryland’s healthy soil initiatives, please contact the department’s Office of Resource Conservation at 410-841-5865 or visit their website.

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