{"id":29071,"date":"2025-06-12T09:41:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=29071"},"modified":"2025-06-12T09:55:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:55:01","slug":"department-announces-2025-cover-crop-grant-sign-up-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2025\/06\/12\/department-announces-2025-cover-crop-grant-sign-up-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"Department Announces 2025 Cover Crop Grant Sign-Up Dates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"29072\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2025\/06\/12\/department-announces-2025-cover-crop-grant-sign-up-dates\/attachment\/2025-2026-cover-crop-fact-sheet\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?fit=2543%2C930&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2543,930\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;MDA&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;2025-2026 Cover Crop Fact Sheet&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;2025-2026 Cover Crop Fact Sheet&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"2025-2026 Cover Crop Fact Sheet\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;2025-2026 Cover Crop Fact Sheet&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?fit=760%2C278&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29072\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?resize=300%2C110\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?resize=300%2C110&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?resize=1024%2C374&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?resize=768%2C281&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?resize=1536%2C562&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?resize=2048%2C749&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/06\/NewsReleaseheader-2025CC.jpg?w=2280 2280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 12, 2025)<\/strong>&#8211; The\u00a0<strong>Maryland Department of Agriculture<\/strong>\u00a0has announced this year\u2019s\u00a0<strong>Cover Crop Sign-Up<\/strong>\u00a0will run from\u00a0<strong>June 23 through July 17, 2025<\/strong>\u00a0at local soil conservation districts. This popular conservation program provides farmers with financial assistance to offset costs to plant fall cover crops, building healthy soils and protecting the Chesapeake Bay. The program\u2019s budget for this year is $22 million.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPlanting cover crops is one of the best ways for farmers to protect our precious soil and water resources,\u201d said\u00a0<strong>Maryland Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks<\/strong>. \u201cLast year\u2019s sign-up was one of the largest in our program\u2019s history. Maryland farmers planted nearly 500,000 acres of fall cover crops using over $30 million in department cost-share grants. This year\u2019s program has been streamlined to more fully align with state budget projections and make funding go further. Our goal is to support as many farmers as possible in their conservation work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">The department\u2019s Cover Crop Program provides Maryland farmers with grants to plant a range of cold-hardy cereal grains and mixes.\u00a0 Farmers may plant cover crops after corn, soybeans, sorghum, tobacco, vegetables, hemp, millet and\u2014new this year\u2014sunflowers and sod. Cover crop fields enrolled in this program may not be harvested but may be grazed or chopped for on-farm livestock forage after becoming well-established.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>2025-2026 Program highlights include:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<li>The base payment is $35\/acre.<\/li>\n<li>Farmers can earn up to $65\/acre with add-on incentives.<\/li>\n<li>Farmers who aerially seed cover crops into standing corn by October 10 qualify for a $10\/acre incentive.<\/li>\n<li>Non-poultry manure may be applied to cover crop fields in the fall for a flat rate of $25\/acre.<\/li>\n<li>To participate in this program, farmers must sign up to plant at least 10 acres of cover crops.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fall-planted cover crops benefit the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland&#8217;s farmland by recycling unused plant nutrients from the preceding summer crop while fortifying the soil for spring planting. Once established, cover crops work all winter to combat erosion, supply the soil with organic matter, reduce weeds and pests, and protect fields from drought and extreme rainfall. As an added bonus, cover crops capture carbon from the air and store it in the soil.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, the department is offering a <a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/Documents\/Cover%20Crop%20Webinar.docx.pdf\">webinar<\/a> on\u00a0<strong>Wednesday, June 18, 2025 from 11 am &#8211; 12pm<\/strong>\u00a0to help interested farmers learn more about this year&#8217;s program and the water quality and soil health benefits of cover crops. Speakers from the University of Maryland&#8217;s Wye Research and Education Center include Dr. Kenneth Staver, Associate Research Scientist, and Kurt Vollmar, Extension Specialist. Department staff will also provide an update on this year&#8217;s program. Additional speakers will be announced soon.\u00a0<em><strong>Attendance awards 1 Nutrient Management CEU to farmers certified to prepare their own nutrient management plans or 1 credit toward renewing a nutrient management voucher.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/umd.zoom.us\/meeting\/register\/ObrpAjN4QzWphx_gAZ8xeg\">REGISTER NOW FOR THE WEBINAR<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Cover Crop Program is administered by the department\u2019s Conservation Grants Program and the state\u2019s 23 soil conservation districts. It is open to Maryland farmers in good standing with the program and in compliance with Maryland\u2019s nutrient management requirements. A completed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/resource_conservation\/Documents\/macs_manual\/3\/30_NMP_Certification_Form.pdf\">Current Nutrient Management Plan Certification<\/a>\u00a0is required at sign-up. Other restrictions and conditions apply. Funding for the 2025-2026 Cover Crop Program is provided by the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund and the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Farmers should visit their local\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/resource_conservation\/Pages\/technical_assistance.aspx\">soil conservation district<\/a>\u00a0between June 23 and July 17 to apply in person for the cover crop grants. Those who participated in last year\u2019s program should check their mailboxes for an information packet. Additional information is also available on the department\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/resource_conservation\/Pages\/cover_crop.aspx\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: center\"># # #<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: center\">Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Facebook\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MdAgDept\">@MdAgDept<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 12, 2025)&#8211; The\u00a0Maryland Department of Agriculture\u00a0has announced this year\u2019s\u00a0Cover Crop Sign-Up\u00a0will run from\u00a0June 23 through July 17, 2025\u00a0at local soil conservation districts. This popular conservation program provides farmers with financial assistance to offset costs to plant fall cover crops, building healthy soils and protecting the Chesapeake Bay. The program\u2019s budget for this<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2025\/06\/12\/department-announces-2025-cover-crop-grant-sign-up-dates\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29071","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\/29071","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\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29071"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29074,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29071\/revisions\/29074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}