Category: Funding

Advanced Nutrient Management Vouchers Available

Posted on by Jenell McHenry | Posted in 4Rs on the Farm, Funding, In the NewsTagged , , , , , Leave a Comment on Advanced Nutrient Management Vouchers Available

“Are you ready to take your farm to the next level for yield and efficiency?”

(Chester, Maryland, February 10, 2025) – For the 2025 growing season, farmers and trusted advisers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed have the opportunity to work together and plan advanced nutrient management practices. A $1,000 planning voucher from the Mid-Atlantic Stewardship Association is available to support an advisor and farmer’s time to work together and develop next steps to meet their specific farm goals.

Vouchers are paid directly to the trusted advisor to assist a farmer with planning including data management and compilation, analysis of existing data, collecting new data/soil tests, etc. to plan next steps. Enrolled fields must have a current nutrient management plan or meet NRCS Core Nutrient Management requirements in Pennsylvania.

Example practices include nitrogen modeling, precision fertilizer recommendations, generating field zones, and data management to name a few. No implementation is required, only proof of your plan and a follow-up interview to share how the funds supported your goals.

There are 10 of 30 vouchers still available on a first-come, first-served basis and an additional two vouchers for historically underserved farmers valued at $1,250. Enrollment forms are due no later than March 14th for the 2025 growing season.

In 2024, we provided 30 vouchers with great success and funding from the Keith Campbell Foundation. You can hear from the 4R team and participating agribusiness about the vouchers here. 

Learn more about this year’s programs online here.

Cost-Share to Test Products Available

Posted on by Jenell Eck | Posted in Funding

Chester, MD (January 24, 2024) – The Mid-Atlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association is offering cost-share enhanced nutrient management practices. Cost-share of $20 per acre is available for testing biofertilizer products or adding an additional split of nitrogen. Agribusinesses are eligible to receive $500 per farmer for providing technical assistance to the farmer and delivering data for economic analysis.

We ask that farms be located within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and comply with core nutrient management requirements. Farms must enroll a minimum of 40 acres. For more eligibility information please visit our website at 4rMidAtlantic.com/cost-share.

For the biofertilizer cost-share, farmers will be asked to complete three different nutrient prescriptions on their corn crop. Eligible biofertilizers are those that claim to supplant nitrogen sources and make recommendations to reduce overall nitrogen application rate. The first strip will include the farmer’s typical nutrient management program without a biofertilizer, the second strip will include their typical nutrient management program with a biofertilizer, and the remainder of the field will include a reduction in nitrogen rate with the biofertilizer. Farmers are able to purchase and test the product they wish to trial.

For the split nitrogen cost-share, farmers will be asked to add an additional split of nitrogen to a portion of their 2024 corn crop, with the same total pounds of nitrogen across the field. This split can be performed at any point in the growing season as long as it is a new practice on the field.

The 4R Alliance will be collecting data from both trials to evaluate corn yield and nutrient use efficiency. The data will be aggregated with no identifying information or location shared publicly. Funding for the cost-share is being provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

For more information contact Jenell Eck McHenry at jenell.mdag@gmail.com or at 443-262-6969.

Mid-Atlantic 4R Voucher Program

Posted on by Jenell Eck | Posted in Funding

Queenstown, Maryland (October 20, 2023) – The Mid-Atlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association is honored to administer 30 vouchers to Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) who partner with farmers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The voucher is good for $1,000 of technical support from a CCA to provide data management, coaching, and advanced nutrient management plan development until July 2024. Funding for the vouchers is provided by the Campbell Foundation.

The Mid-Atlantic 4R team has found that one barrier to growing 4R farming practices in the watershed is data management. The voucher program proposes to provide technical assistance directly to providers to help farms understand the language and data used to identify and implement precision agricultural practices and enable them to make more informed nutrient management decisions on their farms.

A pilot voucher program was performed in 2021 for farmers in Harford County, Maryland. “I saw an opportunity to engage with more farmers, maybe with other farmers that I hadn’t been able to really engage on the next level of nutrient management technology,” said Agribusiness partner in 2021. “And I’d stress that implementation is not a requirement. We can do the work to set it all up, but you don’t have to do everything we suggest. But showing them some of the success we’ve had with some of the different tools, I think really started opening some farmer’s eyes. It takes some of that risk away.”

The vouchers will be limited to five per agribusiness until December 31, 2023. On January 1st, any remaining vouchers will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in the voucher program, complete this online form for our team to contact you, or contact Jenell directly. Jenell McHenry can be emailed at jenell.mdag@gmail.com or called at 443-262-6969.

More information and protocol about the program can be found online here.

Cost Share Available to Improve your 4R Nutrient Stewardship and your Bottom Line

Posted on by Jenell Eck | Posted in Funding

Queenstown, Maryland (March 8, 2021) – The Mid-Atlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association is looking for producers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed portions of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, who are interested in enhancing their 4R nutrient stewardship by adding an additional split to their nitrogen application for the 2021 corn growing season. Eligibility includes meeting core nutrient management requirements, providing a minimum of 40 acres at $15 an acre, and allowing access to agronomic and financial data that will be kept confidential. These results will be used to develop case studies and outreach materials showcasing the benefits of splitting nitrogen applications.

Sign-up for 2021 is due March 15th. Farmers in Pennsylvania will work directly with the PA 4R Alliance, Eric Rosenbaum of Rosetree Consulting, and their preferred retailer. Delaware and Maryland producers will work with DEMD 4R Alliance, Thompson Ag Consulting, and their preferred retailer.

Funding for this three-year project is sponsored by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund. A three-year grant has been provided for education, training, and cost-share to increase the implementation of 4R Nutrient Stewardship practices across Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The Mid-Atlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association is a non-profit that supports local 4R Alliance, collaborations of agribusinesses, researchers, government agencies, and conservation groups working to advance nutrient stewardship within the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic Region. Please contact the staff in your state if interested in signing up or for questions!

Maryland & Delaware – Jenell Eck – jenell.mdag@gmail.com

Pennsylvania – Eric Rosenbaum – ericrosenbaum@rosetreeconsulting.com

More information on our association can be found on our website.

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The Mid-Atlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association is a non-profit entity working to provide education to farmers on the economic and environmental benefits of implementing 4R nutrient stewardship practices, which will accelerate progress toward clean water and habitat goals.