Cover Crop Plus+ Program

The Cover Crop Plus+ grant program, run by MDA's Healthy Soils Program, provides additional support for Maryland's innovative cover crop practitioners with a more flexible, streamlined program for effective cover crop strategies not covered by existing programs. Participants sign a contract to grow cover crops on the same field(s) for 3 consecutive years using practices not supported by MDA's Traditional Cover Crop Program or the Small Acreage Cover Crop Program. Funded practices include summer cover crops, cover crop mixes with less than 50% grass, legumes for crop nitrogen, cover crops planted into standing crops before August 1, interseeding into wide crop rows, early termination of grasses in a legume mix, and cover crops for grazing animals. The base payment is $40/acre, with add-on bonuses of $15/acre each for Diversity, Summer, Biomass, and Nitrogen Reduction, up to a maximum of $100/acre. Applications are approved on a first come, first served basis. The program is funded by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

You may enroll 10 to 500 acres. You must plant the cover crop no later than November 5 (unless part of an approved Technical Service Provider-supported scenario) and may terminate no earlier than April 15 (unless summer-planted or an approved scenario). Seeding rates and mix calculations must follow NRCS Technical Guidelines unless an alternative scenario is approved. You must be in good standing with the Maryland Nutrient Management Program, the Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share Program, the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Program, and other MDA conservation grant programs, and must submit a current Nutrient Management Plan Certification Form. Additional restrictions may apply.

The 2026-2027 application window is now closed. Submit a signed application with a 3-year management plan (at least 2 of the 3 years require scenarios not supported by other MDA cover crop programs), field maps, a grazing plan (if grazing), and a letter of support (if working with a Technical Service Provider) to Nick Miller, Healthy Soils Program Administrator, at nicholas.miller2@maryland.gov or by mail to Maryland Department of Agriculture, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401. An online application form is available via the program page.