ANNAPOLIS, MD (Feb. 21, 2012) \u2013 Governor Martin O\u2019Malley today announces that Maryland farmers participating in the Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s (MDA) Cover Crop Program planted a record 429,818 acres of\u00a0 cover crops on their farms this past fall to control soil erosion, reduce nutrient runoff and protect water quality in streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.\u00a0 The 2011 cover crop planting is the largest in Maryland history and exceeds Maryland\u2019s 2013 Chesapeake Bay milestone goal by 21 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur farmers continue to show their leadership in the Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts by planting a record number of acres of cover crops, exceeding their two-year goal by 21 percent,\u201d said Governor Martin O\u2019Malley. \u201cCover crops are the workhorse of our Bay restoration efforts. I thank all farmers who planted cover crops and especially encourage those who did not participate to enroll in the program this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cover crops are widely considered to be one of the most cost-effective and environmentally sustainable ways to control soil erosion and reduce nutrient runoff in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries during the winter.\u00a0 Collectively, the 429,818 acres of cover crops planted will prevent an estimated 2.58 million pounds of nitrogen, which is 60 percent of our overall two year milestone goal, and 86,000 pounds of phosphorus from potentially impacting the Bay and its tributaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to Governor O\u2019Malley\u2019s commitment to the cover crop program, farmers can count on a strong program with consistent funding from year to year, making it possible for them plan ahead and include cover crops a part of their normal cropping system,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance.<\/p>\n
Farmers plant cover crops in the fall, following the harvest of summer crops such as corn, soybeans and vegetables.\u00a0 Rye, wheat, barley and other \u201ccereal grains\u201d are planted as cover crops because they continue to grow in cool weather, eventually becoming the lush green fields that checker an otherwise barren rural, winter landscape.\u00a0 As they grow, cover crops recycle unused plant nutrients remaining in the soil from the previous summer crop, protect fields against wind and water erosion, and help improve the soil for the next year\u2019s crop.<\/p>\n
The use of manure and fertilizer is restricted on acres enrolled in Maryland\u2019s cover crop program.<\/p>\n
Maryland\u2019s Cover Crop Program is administered by MDA and the state\u2019s 24 soil conservation districts through the Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share (MACS) Program.\u00a0 It is funded by the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund and the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.\u00a0 Applicants must be in good standing with MACS to participate and must be in compliance with the Nutrient Management Program.\u00a0 The sign up period for the 2012-2013 MACS Cover Crop Program will take place early this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ANNAPOLIS, MD (Feb. 21, 2012) \u2013 Governor Martin O\u2019Malley today announces that Maryland farmers participating in the Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s (MDA) Cover Crop Program planted a record 429,818 acres of\u00a0 cover crops on their farms this past fall to control soil erosion, reduce nutrient runoff and protect water quality in streams, rivers, and the Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"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":[916,26],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-cover-crop","tag-governor"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","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\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":386,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}