Earn More Money and Lose Less Soil

Cover Crops Show Your Community You Care About Your Farm!

Farming sometimes feels like working harder and harder to earn less and less. At least that’s how it feels when your precious soil is blowing or washing away into nearby streams. Cover crops, minimum tillage and no-till farming and other conservation tillage practices can make a big difference. These practices protect your soil and stop erosion when the harvest is over — and we can help you get started. Our technicians will sit down with you, roll up their sleeves, and answer your questions. When you are ready to get started, we can point you toward seeds, loaner equipment, and more. We aren’t selling anything!

When you plant cover crops and start no-till farming, you’re well on your way towards earning recognition in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, that’s MAEAP for short. Here’s what MAEAP is all about.

Click the button below to request a free and 100% confidential visit from your local MAEAP technician to discuss whether this voluntary program is right for you.

What others are saying

“We worked hard to get verified! Cattle needed to be fenced out of the streams, stream crossings needed to be provided, and watering sited established. At the Farmstead, we installed new fueling stations and chemical storage, among other things. But it was worth it in the end and we feel great about this accomplishment.”

–Ken and Pat Brown, Kitty Kurtis Farm, Greenwood Township

“I’ve been a farmer all my life. My first experience driving machinery on the farm was when I was 10 years old. It’s my goal to turn [the farm] over to my children in better than it was when I got it. Over the years my sons and I have put many [conservation practices] to use on the farm.”

–Wayne Dinius, Wayne Dinius Farm

“We believe electively opting to participate in MAEAP… will help farmers keep up with the rapid pace of environmental and sustainability-based industry changes… The fourth generation is now learning and preparing for their future as we all try to leave our farmstead better than we found it.”

–Bruce and Jennifer Lewis of Pleasant View Dairy, members of Michigan Milk Producers Association and 2013 Michigan State University Dairy Farmers of the Year