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.

This program pays a per-acre rate, not a fixed award. There is no per-farm dollar cap and no cost-share percentage — you are paid by the acre.

Rate chart:

| Practice | Payment rate/acre |

|---|---|

| Base | $40.00 |

| Diversity Bonus | $15.00 |

| Summer Bonus | $15.00 |

| Biomass Bonus | $15.00 |

| Nitrogen Reduction Bonus | $15.00 |

| Maximum | $100.00 |

How to earn each bonus:

• Diversity — three or more species planted from three or more functional groups (grass, legume, forb, brassica). If planting legumes for nitrogen, two different legume species plus one species from another functional group is permitted.

• Summer — "[t]he cover crop is planted after a small grain or after a fall/winter cover crop for field rest."

• Biomass — "[d]elay termination until a minimum biomass yield of 2,000 pounds per acre dry matter is documented."

• Nitrogen Reduction — "[p]rovide documentation showing at least a 15% reduction in commercial fertilizer application from the prior year's baseline."

Contract length: 3 years. "You 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." At least 2 of the 3 years in your management plan must use scenarios not supported by those other programs.

Acreage limits: "You may enroll 10 to 500 acres in this program."

Planting and termination windows: plant no later than November 5 and terminate no earlier than April 15, unless summer-planted or part of an approved Technical Service Provider scenario. Seeding rates and mix calculations must follow NRCS Technical Guidelines unless an approved alternative applies.

Selection: "Applications will be approved on a first come, first served basis" — not competitively scored.

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.