After finishing aerial cover crop seeding in New Hampshire, a helicopter will soon be flying over 5,122 acres of Massachusetts cornfields, dropping winter rye grass seed. The aerial seeding was scheduled between Aug. 10 and mid-September in townships across Massachusetts, on a roughly northwest to southeast schedule.
The goal is to improve soil health by establishing a cover crop to protect the soil after corn harvest. Farms sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and participate voluntarily.
READY FOR LIFTOFF: A hopper loaded with cover crop seed will hang from the helicopter as it flies low over corn to drop rye through the canopy on a GPS-guided pattern.
This year, it’s part of 55 contracts involving $452,583 of USDA’s EQIP financial and technical assistance for the conservation best management practice. Participation is substantially higher this year, compared to last year when the BMP practice began.
Cover crop seed is released from a hopper hanging beneath a low-flying chopper. By interseeding the rye into corn, the seed establishes under the corn canopy before the corn is harvested. In New England, if farmers apply a cover crop after harvest, it can be too late in the season for it to establish well enough to provide full benefits.
Nonfarming neighbors need to know their farm neighbors are caring for the land by participating in this project, says Rita Thibodeau, the Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist coordinating the statewide effort. “It’s a very controlled seed application that uses GPS to track the helicopter’s flight path and precisely map where seed is distributed.
“One of the big principles of soil health is to keep something growing on the surface of the ground at all times,” Thibodeau says. “The cover crop will keep the ground covered in the fall, winter and spring.”
Aerial seeding isn’t new, she says. But GPS technology is an enhancement that makes the practice more efficient and effective. Weather and other variables determine exact flight schedules, she adds. But the seedings take place between mid-August and mid-September.
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