The fields are turning fuchsia here on the Eastern Shore! Come tag along with us as we learn about crimson clover cover crop with the Hutchison Brothers in Cordova, Maryland for the second video in our series: “What’s in that field?” Every day residents and visitors of the Eastern Shore drive past countless farm fields wondering what’s blooming, what’s being harvested, and what’s being planted. This year, ESLC is helping to dispel some of those mysteries with the help of local farmers. You might have seen these gorgeous magenta flowers blooming around the Shore recently. That’s crimson clover, planted to protect the soil and generate nitrogen for upcoming corn planting.

ESLC has protected three of the Hutchisons’ Talbot County farms since 2010. Growing on roughly 3,400 acres of land, the multi-generational operation is also preserved through the MD Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF). Last year, the Hutchisons received the Maryland Leopold Conservation Award from the Sand County Foundation and American Farmland Trust for their excellent soil health stewardship. The Hutchisons were one of the first families in the county to practice no-till agriculture. Today they tend vegetables, grains, and poultry, prioritizing soil health through cover crops, bio-stimulant studies, mulch and strip-till practices, maintained buffers and other conservation practices like wetland restoration and forest stewardship that protect the water quality of surrounding waterways.