Maryland Cover Crop Grants

Sign-up ends July 17, 2025.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Cover Crop Grant 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. 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. The base payment is $35 per acre, but farmers can earn up to $65 per acre with add-on incentives.