MD: COVER CROP PROGRAM HELPS FARMERS WITH POOR SEED STOCK
News Date August 18, 2009
The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) will allow farmers to use small grain seed stock with germination rates that are below the required 80 percent if they attain an adequate cover crop stand this fall. Since weather conditions this spring have negatively impacted seed quality, MDA is providing farmers the flexibility in the Cover Crop Program for farmers to use farm-grown seed that may not meet the normal germination rate.
The program typically requires adherence to specific seed germination rates, restrictions on noxious weed content and quantity of seed per acre. The newly announced option would relax only the germination standard. All other seed quality criteria must be met. The Cover Crop Program is a centerpiece in the suite of 27 actions Governor Martin O’Malley has set to ramp up Bay restoration and achieve an additional reduction of 3.75 million pounds of nitrogen and 201,000 pounds of phosphorus from reaching the Bay by the end of 2011. The Cover Crop program will account for over one-third of this goal. By planting small grains such as wheat, rye and barley in the fall, farmers help capture nutrients keeping them out of local waterways during winter.
Last year farmers planted 237,500 acres in the program keeping an estimated 1.16 million pounds of nitrogen and 47,500 pounds of phosphorus from impacting local waterways. The majority of Cover Crop Program funding comes from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund with additional support from the 2010 Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund. For additional informational on the Cover Crop Program, contact MDA’s Conservation Grants Office at 410-841-5864. (Contact: Sue DuPont, 410-841-5889 or Julie Oberg, 410-841-5888)