Maryland growers planted a record-setting 492,244 acres of cover crops, which will prevent an estimated 2.95 million pounds of nitrogen and 98,500 pounds of phosphorus from reaching waterways.

A team of editors from No-Till Farmer – John Dobberstein, Laura Allen and Cole Vandermause – will be visiting no-tillers in Pennsylvania and Maryland this week and posting photos and information on Twitter and Facebook.

Alyssa Collins, plant pathologist for Penn State University, has found a new soybean disease while visiting Pennsylvania farms.

The State of Maryland has committed approximately $16 million for the 2011-2012 Cover Crop Program, which provides grants to farmers who plant cover crops in the fall to conserve nutrients, reduce soil erosion and protect water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.