{"id":1887,"date":"2010-06-03T15:36:37","date_gmt":"2010-06-03T15:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=1887"},"modified":"2012-10-04T15:39:24","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T15:39:24","slug":"15-million-available-in-cost-share-funds-to-maryland-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2010\/06\/03\/15-million-available-in-cost-share-funds-to-maryland-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"$15 Million Available in Cost-Share Funds to Maryland Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cover Crop Program Sign-Up Runs June 21 – July 15<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 3, 2010) \u2013 Governor Martin O\u2019Malley has earmarked approximately $15 million for Maryland\u2019s 2010-2011 Winter Cover Crop Program, which provides grants to farmers who plant cover crops this fall to conserve nutrients, reduce soil erosion and protect water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.\u00a0 Enrollment for the statewide program takes place from June 21 through July 15, 2010 at soil conservation district offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaryland\u2019s Cover Crop Program is one strategy in an arsenal of tools we\u2019ve employed to accelerate Bay restoration.\u00a0 They are among the most effective and efficient ways to cut down on stormwater runoff from our farms,\u201d said Governor O\u2019Malley. \u201cProviding farmers with the investments they need to plant cover crops is crucial to the success of our ongoing Bay cleanup effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farmers enrolled in the Maryland Cover Crop Program may plant traditional cover crops at a base rate of $40\/acre and receive up to $55\/acre in add-on incentive payments for using highly valued planting practices.\u00a0 Traditional cover crops may not be harvested, but can be grazed or chopped for livestock forage for on-farm use after becoming well established.<\/p>\n

Farmers who choose to harvest their cover crops receive $25\/acre with a bonus payment of $10\/ acre for planting rye. Farmers may fill out one application to enroll in both program options.\u00a0 This year, there are no enrollment caps for either program option.\u00a0 \u201cAgain this year, farmers may choose from a list of cover crop contractors who can help them meet planting deadlines during the busy harvest season.\u00a0 Farmers may wait until spring to decide which fields to retain for harvest,\u201d said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Earl F. Hance.<\/p>\n

Cover crops are cereal grains and winter annual brassicas (plants in the cabbage family) that are planted to take up nutrients that remain in the soil following production of corn, soybeans, sorghum, tobacco or vegetables.\u00a0 Barley, canola, rapeseed, kale, rye, rygrass, spring oats, triticale and wheat planted in the fall of 2010 are eligible.\u00a0 Special incentives are available to farmers who plant rye.\u00a0 Farmers may use seed they have saved.\u00a0 All seed used is required to meet Maryland Seed Law and Regulatory Standards and have a minimum germination rate of 80 percent.<\/p>\n

MDA\u2019s 2010-2011 Cover Crop Program is administered by the Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share (MACS) Program and funded by the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund and the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.<\/p>\n

Applicants must be in good standing with MACS to participate and must be in compliance with the Nutrient Management Program.\u00a0 Farmers should visit their local soil conservation district office to enroll during the June 21 \u2013 July 15, 2010 enrollment period.<\/p>\n

When fully implemented, the full suite of 2-Year Milestones will preventing an additional 3.75 million pounds of nitrogen and 201,000 pounds of phosphorus from reaching waterways by the end of 2011.\u00a0 Cover crops will account for 25 percent of this reduction.<\/p>\n

Learn more at www.BayStat.gov<\/a>. Created by Executive Order in February 2007 by Governor Martin O\u2019Malley, BayStat is a powerful statewide tool designed to access, coordinate and target Maryland\u2019s Bay restoration programs, and inform citizens on Maryland\u2019s progress in meeting Maryland\u2019s Bay restoration goals.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cover Crop Program Sign-Up Runs June 21 – July 15 ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 3, 2010) \u2013 Governor Martin O\u2019Malley has earmarked approximately $15 million for Maryland\u2019s 2010-2011 Winter Cover Crop Program, which provides grants to farmers who plant cover crops this fall to conserve nutrients, reduce soil erosion and protect water quality in the Chesapeake  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1887"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1889,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions\/1889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}