(TNS) — The University of Maryland Extension in Frederick is looking to expand practical research into cover crops and better understand how farmers learn from each other.

The National Fish and Wildlife Service awarded $500,000 for the project to the University of Maryland Extension in Frederick.

Mark Townsend, an associate agriculture Extension educator, will collaborate with Colorado State University’s Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRISS) and Future Harvest, a nonprofit that provides “education, networking, advocacy, and research” to farms in Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Delaware, according to their website.

Cover crops protect soil in order to limit erosion, control weeds and encourage long-term fertility, among other benefits, according to Townsend.

“We already have the base of knowledge that says ‘here’s what crops work and here’s what doesn’t,’” Townsend said in an interview. “What we’re doing here is tailoring it to a specific operator.”

Participants in the three-year project will receive a cover crops plan customized to their land, as well as a stipend to incorporate those strategies on their farm.

Cereal rye, Austrian winter peas and red clover are common cover crops on Maryland farms, according to Townsend.

The cover crop project brings research that Extension Educator Sarah Hirsh started on the Eastern Shore to Frederick and Central Maryland.

Townsend said cover crops can be an effective tool to maximize what farmers can get out of their land, based on the specific crops, soil and conditions.

As an example, he mentioned the “drought stress” that impacted farmers this year. Cover crops can conserve water by preventing evaporation due to increased organic matter.

A 1% increase in organic matter can cause the soil to retain over 20,000 gallons more water per acre, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

But at the same time, Townsend said that in a wet year, organic matter can help open pores and allow water to “flow through the soil profile a lot easier.”

Again, the specific crops and strategies being used matter.

Farmers will not see benefits immediately after planting cover crops, but rather over the long term. Townsend said that might take 10 to 15 years, but he emphasized the importance of implementing the practice of cover cropping as quickly as possible.

“We don’t forget it when it becomes a problem, but we don’t necessarily position ourselves in our operations to capture the resources that currently exist,” Townsend said.

The other aspect of the project involves IRISS surveys of participating farmers.

The project will divide farmers into cohorts, then the Colorado State researchers will develop a “farmer network analysis,” according to Townsend.

He added that this will allow the academics to “see the flow of information” on best practices, handling new conditions and other information specific to the community of growers.

“The idea here is so that we can tailor our future Extension education events to better suit the methods by which farmers learn,” Townsend said.

A press release for the project said they hope to recruit around 35 farmers from a variety of agricultural businesses.

Townsend said he is “always looking for more people to join us” and encouraged growers to reach out to him directly if interested in participating in the project.

© 2024 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.