Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts

We support Pennsylvania’s Conservation Districts who work for clean water and healthy soil every day.

Cumberland County’s Cover Crop Program is a Model for Others Working to Improve Soil Health and Stem Polluted Farm Runoff

CBF Photo. In a field in Cumberland County, dairy farmer Zane Garber checks on how cover crops improve the soil’s health.

Cumberland County’s cover crop incentive program has become a model for other Pennsylvania counties and farmers looking to improve soil health and reduce polluted agricultural runoff.

The Cumberland County Conservation District’s cover crops program is 15 years old and provides some funding and technical assistance for planting cover crops to roughly 66 farmers. The district has helped farmers plant 8,500 acres of cover crops and estimates there may be at least that many acres not enlisted in its program.

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