The Friends of Cross Lake, partnering with the County of Aroostook, the St. John Valley Soil and Water Conservation District, Northern Tilth and watershed farmers, recently completed a grant providing $105,344 to farmers in the Cross Lake, Daigle and Dickey Brook watersheds for implementing cover crop practices that protect water quality.
These practices reduced the load to Cross Lake by an estimated 41 tons of sediment, 248 pounds of phosphorus and 3,565 pounds of nitrogen.
Seven farmers in those watersheds planted cover crops on 1,368 acres in 2025 at reimbursement rates of $92.51 per acre for multispecies cover and $74 per acre for single or winter cover. Not only do these practices protect water quality, but they also improve soil health and reduce soil loss from cultivated cropland.
This grant was Phase II of a 10-year effort to restore Cross Lake’s water quality to meet state standards. The work complements the 10-year United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s National Water Quality Initiative project in the Dickey, Daigle Brook and Cross Lake watersheds.
The first phase of this effort, a Phase I 319 grant, ended in December 2024 and reimbursed watershed farmers for conservation crop rotation at $111 per acre, multispecies cover at $45 per acre, and winter cover at $31.20 per acre. These practices were implemented on approximately 850 acres of cultivated cropland in 2023 and 2024 and were reimbursed by the grant.
Friends of Cross Lake will continue applying for 319 grants for conservation practices that protect water quality. The group plans to apply again in the spring of 2026.
To find out more about participating in these grants, contact Henok Wehib at the district at 207-834-3311 or hwehibsjvswcd@gmail.com, or visit the district office at 139 Market Street in Fort Kent, or contact Davis Archer at Northern Tilth, davis@northerntilth.com, 207-338-5500 or 401-439-5106.
To learn more about Friends of Cross Lake and its projects, contact Cheryl St. Peter, project manager, at countyee@gmail.com or visit https://www.friendsofcrosslake.org/ or @facebook.com/friendsofcrosslake.
