Cover crops – Just the right thing to do

Cover crops grown over the winter are just the right thing to do, according to some local producers who participated in the Haldimand Rural Water Quality Program (RWQP) and received an incentive payment last year.

The program offers a $20 per acre incentive on up to 50 acres to applicants in Haldimand County. Cover crops can reduce erosion, build better soil structure and improve soil health. 

“You don’t learn anything unless you give it a try,” according to Bruce Armstrong of Cayuga Township who planted oats as a cover crop last winter. “With this program, you don’t have anything to lose. My best advice is to be sure that you don’t plant it too heavy, which can result in a heavier crop mat in the spring, and to use something that winterkills for easier management”.

Bert Schaefer has also seen the benefits. The Oneida area farmer believes that cover crops helped his soil health and he has seen improved yields as a result. While 2018 was the first year for cover crop incentives through the RWQP in Haldimand County, a similar program has run for the past five years in Brant, Waterloo and Wellington. Under the program, priority is given to erosion-prone fields adjacent to watercourses or wetlands and areas that are susceptible to wind erosion. Fields that are tile drained are also considered under the program. Cover crops that are used solely for cover – not harvested or grazed - are eligible under the program.

Applications for the cover crop program can be submitted now for payment in spring 2019. In addition, the Haldimand Rural Water Quality Program provides funding for numerous other projects including tree planting, exclusion fencing, erosion control structures and innovative technologies. Since the program began in 2012, over 70 projects with a total value of about $735,000 have been completed in the county.

Haldimand County funds the Rural Water Quality Program and the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) administers this initiative on its behalf.

More information is available at www.grandriver.ca or by contacting Sue Brocklebank at 519-621-2763 ext. 2278.

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Media contacts:

Cam Linwood, GRCA Communications Coordinator
Phone 519-621-2763 x2251  |  Email clinwood@grandriver.ca

Lisa Stocco, GRCA Manager of Communications
Phone 519-621-2763 x2316  |  Email lstocco@grandriver.ca