Green County DHIA Newsletter

March 2017

Upcoming Events

March 15 Green County DHI Annual Meeting, Noon, American Legion, 1627 12th Ave, Monroe

15 Ag Plastic for Optimum Feed Storage & Management, 10 AM, Lancaster, WI

18 Green County Heart of the Wheel Sale, Noon, Stock Pavilion, Green County Fair grounds, Monroe

28-30 WPS Farm Power Show, EEA Grounds Oshkosh,WI

Last Chance to Get a Free Dumpster for Recycling Used Ag Plastic April 11th

Due to the success of the Ag Plastic recycling program that started in Green County two years ago Revolu-tion Plastics is offering one last chance for area farmers to get a free dumpster and participate in the program. Green County has been selected to serve as the hub for one more distribution of dumpsters for this area on April 11, 2017 at the Green County Fair Grounds. Green County area farmers will be given one more oppor-tunity to participate in the free service offered by Revolution Plastics. Approximately 50 more dumpsters will be available for pickup on first come first served basis at the Green County fair grounds on April 11th. The number of cows and farm size is no longer a limiting factor to participate . If a farm generates enough Ag plastic film to fill an 8 cubic yard dumpster every 6-8 weeks you will qualify. We have herds as small as 60 cows using both silage bags and bales wraps that easily meet this criteria. To register for the program and to pick up a dumpster on April 11th farmers can go to the Revolution Plastics web site at: http://www.revolutionplastics.com/ , call their toll free number at 844-490-7873, or call Price Murphy, Wisconsin Operations Manager for Revolution Plastic at 608-851-0048. Farmers willing to pick up their dumpsters will be given first priority to receive one. Only #4 plastic from silo bags, bunker co-vers, and bale wraps from farms are accepted through this collection program There are currently over 2,500 farms in WI and IL participating in this free recycling program that is saving each farm over $1,000 in annual disposal fees for the plastic. Currently over 130 tons of used plastic is being diverted from landfills and illegal burn piles each week in the state. See the reverse side for more details and tips about the Ag plastic recycling program.

Green County Landfill To Discontinue Accepting Ag Plastic May 31st Due the success of the above mentioned recycling program in Wisconsin the Green County Landfill will no longer be accepting used Ag plastic film on Wednesdays after May 31, 2017.

Update on Agriculture Plastic Recycling Program in Wisconsin

The free used Ag Plastic Recycling program has been a large success. Revolution Plastics is currently collecting over 1,000,000 lbs. of Ag plastic from WI farms every month. Farmers no longer have to spend the time illegal-ly burning the plastic on the farm, and they don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to waste haulers to take the plastic to the landfill. This free program is a win for both the farmer and the environment. As with any new program comes some growing pains and minor challenges. Revolution Plastics is currently running about two weeks behind schedule on dumpster collections, but expects to be back on track in the spring as they are working overtime and adding drivers to their team to ensure timely pickup. They will be adding three more collection trucks to the five they already have on the road by June of 2017. The following are some of the challenges that have caused the current backlog.

Stockpiles – The amount of plastic stockpiled on farms is more than most people were willing to admit. Revolution Plastics has spent many days cleaning up individual farm stockpiles. They have temporarily suspended individual farm large stockpile cleanup until they are back on schedule with their collection routes.

Weather – The bitter cold had an effect on how well the plastic would compact in their new fleet of collec-tion trucks. The colder the temperatures got the less plastic we could fit on a truck. The capacity of the truck at zero degrees is 50% less than when the temperature is above 32 degrees. This means the colder the day the less farms they could service that day. They are correcting the issue by upgrading the 5” hydraulic cylinders in the compaction chamber with 6 ½” hydraulic cylinders to apply more pressure to the plastic.

Inaccurate Farm Addresses - 22% of the farms on the program initially provided Revolution with an inaccurate farm address. The first round of collections for a new partner has been very challenging as they ended up at the wrong location and had to make calls to find the accurate address. Their customer service department is working more closely with new applicants to ensure everyone understands we need an accurate farm address.

Farms Should Know Their Route Schedule – Every farm on the program is on a route schedule. They currently have 4 schedules: 2 week, 4 week, 8 week, and 16 week pickup schedules. If you do not know your schedule please call their customer service department at their toll free number (844-490-7873) to find out. As soon as all dumpsters for the program are distributed they will be performing another route optimization to ensure all the routes are running as efficiently as possible.

Dumpster Accessibility – Farmers are asked to please place the dumpster where their drivers can safely access the dumpster. Please do not place inside buildings or within 6-8 feet of the exterior of a building, under overhangs, under powerlines, inside gated areas, narrow or muddy paths. Also be sure not to park equipment in front of the dumpster. If they arrive and cant access the dumpster we cannot service the dumpster.

Fill The Dumpster – Please pack the plastic into the dumpster. The dumpster can hold 1,000 lbs. of material. Many farms are not stuffing the dumpster full and allowing plastic to hang outside the dumpster making it difficult to empty and many of these dumpsters may look full but usually have less than 500 lbs. of plastic in them. Currently it is taking an average of over 30 minutes to pick up plastic at each farm. By having the dumpster accessible and filled correctly they will be able to easier maintain route schedules.

Approved Plastics Only - Please only place approved plastics in the dumpster. This includes silage bags, bunker covers w/out scrim, bale wrap, and oxygen barrier. DO NOT place tires, tire sidewalls from bunker covers, sticks, rocks, net wrap, twine, rubber matting, or large amounts of feed and dirt in the dumpster. Non-compliance will lead to removal from the program. Revolution Plastics is not a waste hauler. They are a plastics manufacturer that is spending millions of dollars to help the WI dairy and livestock farmers to dispose of their Ag plastics in an environmentally friendly manner.

Green County DHIA, P.O. Box 400, Monroe, WI 53566 Bonnie Moser - Office Manager - 328-9380

Field Technicians Office Phone - 328-9381 March 2017

Sue Pudwill . . . . . . .214-6130 Jim Moser . . . . . .325-7838 Diane Foulker . . . . 325-2668 Lisa Becherer . . . 897-8476

_____________________________________________________________________

Green County UW-Extension Office Justice Center

2841 6th Street Monroe, Wisconsin 53566 Phone: 608-328-9440 Internet: green.uwex.edu

COUNTY EXTENSION STAFF

Mark Mayer, Dairy & Livestock Agent & Editor

Victoria Solomon, Community Resource Development Educator

Ellen Andrews, 4-H Youth Development Educator

Vacant, Family Living Educator

Lisa Messer, Nutrition Educator

Jayne Butts, Extension Activity Assistant

Lana Anderson, Extension Activity Assistant

Mark Mayer Dairy and Livestock Agent & Editor Green County

The University of Wisconsin-Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and educational programming, including Title VI, Title IX, and the ADA requirements. Please make requests for reasonable

accommodation to ensure equal access to educational programs as early as possible preceding the scheduled program, service or activity. If you need this material in an alternate format or other accommodations for access, please contact the UW-Extension Office

at 608-328-9440, voice or 711 for Wisconsin Relay.

Green County DHIA Newsletter

Robert Cramer, Jr W3224 Norton Rd, Juda President 934-1040

Craig Tourdot W3872 Hwy 11-81, Monroe Vice Pres 558-1834

John Dieckhoff W2210 Pinnow Rd, Brodhead Sec/Treas 897-3637

Jeremy Mayer N3926 County Rd N, Monroe Director 214-0070

Andrew Houlberg N4991 Spoerry Rd, Monticello Director 862-3223

Stephanie Miranda 6931 W State Rd 11, Janesville Director 426-1768

UW-Extension Office Green County 2841 6th Street Monroe, WI 53566

Please return this reservation form by March 10th, 2017 for our lunch count!

NAME(S)_____________________________________ NUMBER OF PEOPLE ATTENDING___________________

Please mail to:

Green County DHIA P O Box 400 Monroe, WI 53566

You are invited to attend the Green County DHIA Annual Membership Meeting

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 12:00 NOON

AMERICAN LEGION POST 84 1627 12TH AVE

MONROE, WI 53566