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Soil & Water Conservation District

Soil & Water Conservation District

COVER CROPS

2026 Cover Crop Program

The 2026 Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District Cover Crop Program is offering $12/acre with a cap of 175 approved acres per applicant across eligible counties in the jurisdictional boundary of the MWCD. The 2026 application deadline is close of business on Friday, June 19th, 2025.

Eligible soil tests for application fields can now be from 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026. (still maximum of 25 acres represented per test)

  • Producers will supply current soil tests for review with the SWCD. These tests must be fall 2022 or newer and represent no more than 25 acres. Please write FSA tract and field numbers on soil tests if your numbering system is different. 
  • Reminder – copies of soil tests must be provided. We do not retain copies from year to year.
  • Applications will follow a ranking process.
  • Cap of 175 acres unless fields are above the approved list of MWCD lakes.
  • Seeding will take place by the NRCS specification dates for selected cover crop (to be provided if you are approved).
  • Provide any necessary requested information to Knox SWCD as needed.
  • Separate Agreement must be signed once application is approved and prior to release of payment. We will send those to approved applicants.
  • Producers enrolled in the program with two (2) consecutive years of zero (0) approved fields being planted and turned in to the SWCD, will be capped at 50 acres approved for 2026.
 
  • Non-certified seed must be tested for germination and FM content by ODA to be used in this program.
  • Plantings that do not follow NRCS standards such as seeding rates, dates, and approved methods will not be eligible. 
  • Plantings that are total failures due to herbicide carryover will not receive the approved cost share for that field(s).
  • Participant will notify the SWCD when seedings are completed.
  • Land owned by MWCD and leased from MWCD is not eligible.
  • Land enrolled in USDA EQIP and CSP programs for cover crops ONLY is not eligible for this program.
  • H2Ohio fields, NRCS Nutrient Management, and private credit trading fields ARE eligible.
  • H2Ohio fields enrolled in H2Ohio Cover Crop are NOT eligible.
 

Knox County signup deadline is June 19th, 2025.

Please, please, please – Cross reference your soil test names/numbers with the FSA numbers so we can sort them out. If we can’t tell that the “old hilltop field” is Tract-007 Field 3 then that field won’t be eligible.

Knox County farmers have consistently had some of the highest application submittal acres and completion percentages for this program in the entire MWCD watershed. Keep up the good work!

For further program details, contact Rob Clendening at the SWCD office at 740-393-6724. To sign up for the program, pick up a physical copy of the application at our office or download, print, and mail or drop-off a copy by clicking the following link:

2026 MWCD Cover Crop Application  

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