St. Lawrence County Agricultural Plastics Recycling Project

St. Lawrence County Agricultural Plastics Recycling Project

Summary

The St. Lawrence County Ag Plastics Recyling Project kick-off meeting was originally scheduled to occur on July 30th, but competed with one of the few sunny, dry days in July. St. Lawrence County experienced 14 days of rain in July, and nearly 6 inches of rain fell in during that month (2 inches more than normal). As a result, farmers opted to take advantage of the dry weather, and no one attended the first meeting.

As a result, the project timeline was rearranged to accommodate the wetter than usual summer season, and the kick-off meeting was rescheduled for fall.

Farmers Allen and Mary Kelly who were profiled in the grant application also opted not to participate as the storage location for the prepared plastics is no longer available on their farm.

Despite these two minor setbacks, the St. Lawrence County Agricultural Plastics Recycling Project is off to a good start and is on pace to exceed its original goal to work with 11 farmers to recycle 40,000 pounds of used ag plastics. Presently the project is in contact with 25 interested farms and has collected and baled 32,100 pounds of ag plastics that was prepared for recycling.

Objectives/Performance Targets

September – October 2009: Distribute press releases and contact 87 farmers on waiting list to attend kick-off meeting and discuss project.

October 2009: Conduct kick-off meeting to discuss project and anticipated outcomes with participating farmers.

November 2009 – September 2010:

1) Conduct field visits to participating farms and demonstrate best management practices
2) Conduct initial survey data from participating farmers to obtain baseline data.
3) Calculate anticipated volume of plastics prepared for recycling.

January 2010 – September 2010:

1) Develop, promote and implement collection and baling schedule.
2) Calculate ag plastic volume collected, and transport baled plastics to County transfer stations.
3) Conduct four demonstrations at public events to promote project.

Accomplishments/Milestones

September 28, 2009:

Invitations were mailed to 87 farmers on the waiting list to attend a half-hour information session before the October 29th joint-annual dinner sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension and the American Dairy Association.

October 2, 2009:

Letters and flyers announcing the October 29th kick-off meeting were mailed to all municipal clerks (32 towns, 13 villages, 1 city) in St. Lawrence County for public posting.

October 13, 2009:

A press release announcing the October 29th kick-off meeting was faxed to 12 media outlets in St. Lawrence County (6 newspapers, 5 radio stations, and 1 television station).

October 29, 2009:

Five interested farms attended the half-hour information session at the October 29th joint-annual dinner.

January 12, 2010:

Published Best Management Practices for preparing used ag plastics in Cooperative Extension’s Ag News December 2009-January 2010 issue, which has a circulation of 1,185 addresses throughout northern New York.

February 8, 2010:

Best management practices were reprinted in the February 2010 Ag News issue. Collection, Baling and Demonstrations scheduled on February 23-26 were published in Ag Update publication, which is circulated to 1,185 addresses.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

To date, 32,100 pounds of used ag plastics has been collected and baled for recycling from 17 of the 25 participating farms.

November 2009 – Present

Cooperative Extension has partnered with Cornell University’s Recycling Agricultural Plastics Program, as well as the St. Lawrence County Soil and Water Conservation District to implement this project, and has been in contact with 25 farms who have expressed an interest in preparing used ag plastics for recycling. Twenty of these farmers contacted Cooperative Extension as a result of publicizing the project in the Ag News and Ag Update newsletters.

February 2010:

Interviewed 17 farmers to obtain baseline data on incorporating best management practices to prepare ag plastics for recycling. An estimated 50,690 pounds of ag plastic is used annually by the surveyed farmers, and they estimate they will be able to prepare 35,844 pounds of this material for recycling.

Collaborators: