Ag Film Baling Tour - Upstate New York, Aug. 7-10, 2006
Building the Infrastructure for Life-Cycle Stewardship of Agricultural Plastics
[Ag Plastics Home] [Press Release] [Background Story] [Photos] [Tri-Fold Flier (1.2MB pdf)] [Poster (800KB pdf)] [Tour Schedule & Directions]
Press Release:
DEMONSTRATING AG FILM BALING EQUIPMENT & BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs) in UPSTATE NEW YORK, August 7-10, 2006
The Recycling Ag Plastics Project (RAPP) has organized an Upstate NY Tour of the "Big Foot" - a mobile baler designed for agricultural films. Targeted to the recycling and agricultural communities, the Tour will feature baling equipment, Best Management Practices for handling used films, and information about recycling markets.
The Ag Film Baling Tour begins 10am Monday, August 7, in Otsego County, at Cooperstown Holstein, Inc., Route 33, Phoenix Mills (just south of Cooperstown). Next stop is 2pm at Frazier's Greenhouse, 790 Southside Drive in Oneonta. There will be ongoing demonstrations Tuesday and Wednesday, August 8th and 9th, at Empire Farm Days in Seneca Falls (demo site # 129). Then to the Eastern Finger Lakes on Thursday, August 10: 10am at Baker's Acres, 1104 Auburn Rd, State Rt. 34, Groton (Tompkins County) and 3pm at Iron Kettle Farm, 707 Owego Road, Rt 96, Candor (Tioga County). [schedule]
Questions? See the RAPP website for tour details and additional information about ag plastics recycling: http://environmentalrisk.cornell.edu/AgPlastics/BigFootTour2006. Or contact: Lois Levitan, Cornell University Environmental Risk Analysis Program (607-255-4765, lcl3@cornell.edu); David Cox, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Otsego County (607-547-2536 ext. 226, dgc23@cornell.edu); Martha B. Clarvoe, Otsego County Conservation Association (607-547-4020, martha.clarvoe@gmail.com).
For information specifically about the "Big Foot Baler," speak with the man who developed it - Dennis Sutton - during the Tour, or contact him at 941-761-8293 (dennis44@tampabay.rr.com).
The Recycling Ag Plastics Project is led by the Cornell University Environmental Risk Analysis Program in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations, the Otsego County Conservation Association (OCCA), Tompkins County Recycling and Solid Waste, New York Center for Agricultural Health and Medicine (NYCAHM), Arrowchase Inc., and others.
Help make ag plastics recycling a reality in NY State!
Background Story:
WHAT CAN FARMERS DO WITH ALL THAT PLASTIC?
Demonstrating the "Big Foot" Mobile Baler for Agricultural Films
Lois Levitan, Cornell University
DISPOSABLE AGRICULTURAL PLASTICS INCLUDE:
Dairy Bags & Bunker Silo Covers, Balage Wrap & Netting, Polytwine, Feed Bags, Irrigation Drip Tape, Greenhouse & Hoophouse Covers, Nursery Trays & Pots, Mulch & Fumigation Films, Tarps, Bird Netting, Pesticide & Veterinary Containers, Seed & Fertilizer Bags, Bee Hive Frames, Etc.
What are Agricultural Plastics?
Disposable plastics are increasingly substituted for agricultural products that were previously made from longer lasting and natural materials. There are some very good reasons for this trend: In comparison with the concrete silos, glass greenhouses, and sisal twine that they replace, plastics are often safer to use, improve production efficiency, cost less, and permit greater flexibility in management.
How Do Farmers Get Rid of Them?
What can be done with these short-lived products after their useful life on-the-farm is over?
Some are hauled to the local solid waste transfer station. Much of the rest, however, is either stashed on the farm, plowed into a field, or burned in an open fire.
Burning "ag plastics" in open fires generates high levels of dangerous, polluting emissions, including particulates that settle in the lungs and extremely toxic dioxins that deposit on feed and enter the food chain. Stashing plastic films, tubs and twine on the farm or plowing them into a field clogs water channels, is a choking hazard for livestock and wildlife, creates mosquito breeding habitat, and is not pretty.
As use of agricultural plastics increases and continues over time, disposal becomes more difficult to ignore or to put out of sight.
Prospects for Recycling
Recycling is the goal of the Recycling Ag Plastics Project (RAPP). However, this goal has not been easy to achieve because " ag films" are typically dirtier than other used plastic films such as grocery bags and pallet wrap. They are also widely dispersed across the rural landscape, adding complexity and cost to the collection process.
Several hurdles must be jumped for recycling of used ag films to become a viable and customary part of the ag production process: (i) Best Management Practices (BMPs) must be adopted to keep used film clean and in good enough condition to be recycled, and (ii) infrastructure must be developed to move used film from the farm to the recycler cost effectively.
Bulky, loose film is expensive to transport and hard to handle. Thus recycling markets - i.e., the buyers who prepare used film for re-manufacture into new products such as plastic lumber, dairy and garbage bags, shoe soles, road underlayment, etc. - typically want to purchase the film in stackable bales that can be handled with a fork lift, weigh about 1000 lb, and fit efficiently into a tractor-trailer for cost-effective transport.
Recycling becomes a more feasible solution when farmers have easy access to balers suitable for compacting plastic film.
Upstate NY Ag Film Baling Tour Promotes Recycling
Targeted to the recycling and agricultural communities, a demonstration Ag Film Baling Tour will be making stops across Upstate New York during the week of August 7, 2006. The Tour will feature baling equipment designed for safe and efficient compacting of agricultural films, Best Management Practices for handling used films, and information about recycling markets.
The Tour begins in Otsego County on Monday, August 7, moves to Empire Farm Days just south of Seneca Falls for two full days - Tuesday and Wednesday, August 8-9 - and then into the Eastern Finger Lakes. [Full schedule and directions to demo sites]
Tour details and more information about ag plastics recycling are on the website of the Recycling Ag Plastics Project (RAPP), organizers of the Tour: http://environmentalrisk.cornell.edu/AgPlastics/. RAPP is led by the Cornell University Environmental Risk Analysis Program in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations, the Otsego County Conservation Association (OCCA), Tompkins County Recycling and Solid Waste, New York Center for Agricultural Health and Medicine (NYCAHM), Arrowchase Inc., and others.
The "Big Foot" Mobile Baler
The baler used in the demos operates much like the vertical compactors used to compress cardboard, but has been modified to be mobile and "ag-friendly." Powered by tractor hydraulics, this "Big Foot" baler can be hauled from farm-to-farm or to other local collection sites on a small trailer hitched to the back of a pickup. The "Big Foot" weighs 2500 lb, compacts the plastic with a hydraulic plunger, and - in about an hour - can produce a pallet-sized bale (40" x 40" x 36") tied with wire. For more information about the "Big Foot" baler, Tour attendees can speak with its developer - Dennis Sutton - during the demonstrations, or later contact him at 941-761-8293, (dennis44@tampabay.rr.com).
Support for the Ag Film Baling DemonstrationTour has been provided by Cornell Cooperative Extension, US EPA Region 2, Otsego County Conservation Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations of Otsego and Tompkins County, Dennis Sutton, Monroe Tractor Agricultural Equipment in Auburn NY, Tompkins County Recycling and Solid Waste, and the hosts of the on-site demonstrations: Cooperstown Holstein, Inc. (Phoenix Mills), Frazier's Greenhouse (Oneonta), Empire Farm Days (Seneca Falls), Iron Kettle Farm (Candor), and Baker's Acres (Groton).
Help make ag plastics recycling a reality in NY State!
Back to Top [PDF of Schedule &Directions]
"BIG FOOT" AG FILM BALER – TOUR SCHEDULE & DIRECTIONS
August 7-10, 2006
MONDAY Aug 7: I-88 Corridor (Otsego County)
10a.m. - Cooperstown Holstein, Inc. - County Highway 33, Phoenix Mills (just south of Cooperstown)
Directions
FROM I-88: Exit 17 (Cooperstown Junction) to Rt 28 North toward Cooperstown.
At Milford light, turn right onto Rt 166. After ~1 mile, turn left (north) onto Rt 33; continue ~4 miles. Turn left at signs for Otsego Public Safety Building.
Proceed on Rt 33 West ~ 0.5 mile to farm (at end of road).
FROM COOPERSTOWN: Rt 28 South for 2.5 miles. Just past Yum Yum Shack on left, turn left on to Rt 11C. Turn right at "T" onto Rt 33; go ~1/2 mile. Turn right at signs for Otsego Public Safety Building. Proceed on Rt 33W ~ 0.5 mile to farm (at end of road).
2p.m. - Frazier's Greenhouse - 790 Southside Drive, Oneonta
Directions
FROM I-88: Exit
15 (Oneonta).
Follow signs to Rt
28 South. At intersection turn right onto Rt 28 South. Proceed to first light,
after Home Depot. Turn left onto Southside Drive. Go 2 ¾ miles to 790
Southside Drive, Frazier's Nursery (on the right).
FROM EAST on ROUTE 23: Turn left on Southside DrIve (opposite John Deere dealer). Frazier's on left.
FROM SOUTH on ROUTE 28: At intersection before Home Depot, turn right onto Southside Drive. Proceed 2 ¾ miles to 790 Southside Drive, Frazier's Nursery (on the right).
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY Aug 8-9: Empire Farm Days, Seneca Falls (Seneca County)
Ongoing 9-5 – Empire Farm Days, Demo Site #129 — 2973 Rt 414, Seneca Falls
Directions
FROM the WEST: NYS Thruway Exit 42 (Geneva). Rt 96 South toward Seneca Falls. When Rt 96 turns right into Waterloo, continue straight on
North Rd to junction with Rt 414. Follow Rt 414 South through Seneca Falls. The EFD site is just south of the village on Rt 414.
FROM the EAST: Exit 41 (Waterloo/Seneca Falls). Follow Rt 414 South through
Seneca Falls to EFD site.
FROM SOUTH: Rt 96 North to junction with Rt 414 North. Follow Rt 414 N to EFD
site, just south of village.
THURSDAY Aug 10: Eastern Finger Lakes
10a.m. - Baker's Acres – 1104 Auburn Rd, State Rt. 34, Groton (Tompkins County)
Directions
FROM ITHACA and POINTS SOUTH: Follow Rt 34 for 13 miles to Baker's Acres (on the left) or take Rt 13 North to Triphammer Rd exit (Pyramid Mall).
Turn left onto Triphammer Rd to end (4 miles). Cross Rt 34B and then turn right onto Rt 34 North (Auburn Rd).
Continue ~ 5 miles on Rt 34 North to Baker's Acres (on the left).
FROM AUBURN: Rt 34
South ~ 22 miles to Baker's Acres (on the right).
FROM NYS
THRUWAY: Exit 40 (Weedsport) to Rt 34 South. Follow directions from Auburn.
FROM CORTLAND/HOMER and
POINTS EAST: Rt 90 West to Genoa. Turn left onto Rt 34 South. Continue ~ 5
miles to Baker's Acres (on the right).
3p.m. - Iron Kettle Farm – 707 Owego Road, Rt 96, Candor (Tioga County)
Directions
FROM ROUTE 17: Exit 64. Follow signs for Rt 96 through Owego
(watch for left hand turn as you leave Owego). Continue on Rt 96 North ~ 6
miles to Iron Kettle Farm (on the right).
FROM POINTS NORTH: Take Rt 96 or Rt 96B South to Candor. At the junction of Rts
96 and 96B, continue on Rt 96 South (Owego Road) for 2.8 miles to Iron
Kettle Farm (on the left).
FROM ROUTE 81: Exit 12 (Cortland/Homer). Follow Rt. 281 South through Cortland.
Continuing south, Rt 281 becomes Rt 13. In Dryden continue south on Rt 38
towards Owego. Just north of the village of Owego, turn right onto Rt 96 North.
Continue on Rt 96 North ~ 6 miles to Iron Kettle Farm (on the right).
Questions? Contact: David Cox, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Otsego County (607-547-2536 x 226;
<dgc23@cornell.edu>); Martha B. Clarvoe, Otsego County Conservation
Association (607-547-4020, martha.clarvoe@gmail.com). Lois Levitan, Environmental Risk Analysis Program, Department of Communication, Cornell
University (607-255-4765; <LCL3@cornell.edu>).
