The Maryland Department of Agriculture has announced this year’s Cover Crop Sign-Up will run from June 23 through July 17, 2025 at 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’s budget for this year is $22 million.
“Planting cover crops is one of the best ways for farmers to protect our precious soil and water resources,” said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks. “Last year’s sign-up was one of the largest in our program’s history. Maryland farmers planted nearly 500,000 acres of fall cover crops using over $30 million in department cost-share grants. This year’s 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.”