Cover Crops

Resources on growing organic grain

Agronomy News is a statewide newsletter for farmers, consultants, researchers, and educators interested in grain and row crop forage production systems. November 2021, Volume 12, Issue 8

Agronomy News is a statewide newsletter for farmers, consultants, researchers, and educators interested in grain and row crop forage production systems.

Dairy farmers are constantly looking for sources of forage to meet their feed needs. One source that many of our region’s dairy farmers utilize is the fall planting of cereal grains that are green-chop harvested the following spring. Among the cereal species used for this purpose are rye, triticale, barley, and wheat. Per the Maryland Cover Crop Program guidelines, cereal grains planted as a cover crop prior to November 5 and suppressed via green-chop in the spring are eligible for the grant payment for participation in the Cover Crop Program. In addition, per the Nutrient Management Regulations, a fall application of dairy manure is allowed to a field planted to a cereal cover crop.

Agronomy News is a statewide newsletter for farmers, consultants, researchers, and educators interested in grain and row crop forage production systems.

With barley harvest behind us and wheat harvest in full swing, our thoughts move to planting double-crop soybeans. This might be a prudent decision in many cases, but if you need forage, it may be a short-sighted choice. I suggest you look into your toolbox and consider forage sorghum, millet, or even grain sorghum.

Despite a less than ideal Memorial Day weekend, I’m sure many of us are grateful for the rain. While corn was planted several weeks ago, many places went for weeks without significant rainfall. As a result, many fields lacked adequate moisture to properly activate any preemergence herbicides that were applied.

Corn, soybeans, and wheat are the major agronomic crops are grown in Maryland representing over 1,335,000 acres of cropland and valued at over $500 million (NASS 2017). In order to provide the most current education and research, the University of Maryland Extension provides winter agronomy meetings for Maryland farmers, crop advisors, and agriculture professionals. The goal is to provide updates on products, research results, and regulatory certifications to increase farm vitality through increased yields and profits.

Since 2013, the University of Maryland Extension has provided outreach and education through the Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI). ALEI is a collaboration of the Francis King Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB); the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP); and the School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). ALEI is an initiative of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, a collaboration between UMB and UMCP.

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