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Farmers participating in Maryland’s Cover Crop Program will be using aerial seeding to plant cereal grains and other types of cover crops in their fields to protect local waterways from nutrient runoff, reduce erosion and enhance their soil’s health for spring cash crops, according to a press release from MDA.

“Aerial seeding is a fast and efficient way to plant fall cover crops,� said Maryland Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks in the release. “It is used to plant cover crop seeds into standing corn. This gives the cover crop more time to grow before the cool weather arrives, boosting its ability to capture and recycle unused nutrients left over from the previous corn crop that might otherwise wash into local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.�

Farmers enrolled in the department’s Cover Crop Program receive grants to plant cereal grains and a variety of cover crop mixes in the fall. Once established, cover crops provide a protective cover throughout the winter, helping to reduce erosion and nutrient runoff, while enhancing the soil’s organic matter for spring planting.

Additionally, cover crops help sequester carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas — from the air and protect farm fields from excessive rainfall or drought.

No pesticides or fertilizers are used when planting cover crops under MDA’s Cover Crop Program. For aerial seeding, small planes and helicopters will take off from local airports serving the area.

Maryland’s Cover Crop Program is funded by the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund and the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund. The program is administered by MDA and the state’s 23 soil conservation districts through the Conservation Grants Program.