By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Friday December 11, 2020

Dec 11, 2020 | 9:30 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – A baler twine collection pilot program has been launched in Saskatchewan.

Cleanfarms executive director Barry Friesen said baler twine is an essential agricultural tool to wrap and store hay, straw, and silage, but at the end of its useful life, plastic twine is challenging to manage.

“Beyond collecting empty grain bags for recycling, the next most important item for us to focus on is twine. Getting it out of landfill and burn piles and into recycling bags has been a Cleanfarms goal for the past few years,” Friesen said.

The Saskatchewan pilot will involve more than 30 collection locations and will lay the groundwork for permanent programs for twine and other agricultural plastic wastes.

“Saskatchewan farmers’ participation in this program will help us understand how to create a circular economy for the recovery of twine once farmers are finished with it,” Friesen said.

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Some pilots in Quebec are already operating while the Saskatchewan twine pilots are getting underway now. Pilots are also expected to roll out in the northern interior of British Columbia as well as in specific areas of Alberta, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island in 2021.

Friesen said all the pilots will help Cleanfarms determine how to provide farmers with more opportunities to manage plastic waste in environmentally responsible ways.

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Mother Nature created a busy season for hail adjusters.

The Canadian Crop Hail Association (CCHA) said 2020 was unprecedented.

CCHA President Scott McQueen said the hail season started in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It required new social distancing guidelines to keep our adjusters and our customers safe,” McQueen said in a news release. “On top of that, Mother Nature didn’t let up this year with damaging hail, flooding rain, and tornadoes.”

McQueen said CCHA members have completed final hail damage claims.

“On a positive note, for 2020, the relatively warm and dry fall allowed farmers to complete harvest well ahead of scheduled in most places across Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan,” McQueen said. “We congratulate growers on the successful harvest and look forward to serving them again next year.”

McQueen said it is never too early to start planning insurance coverage for next season and encouraged growers to start planning for 2021.

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Prairie canola growers associations are hosting an event that hopes to bring more attention to farm safety.

Tonight and Monday there will be screenings of the movie “SILO” to bring greater attention to the importance of proper grain handling.

Following the screenings, there will be a short discussion panel that will include one survivor’s story about a grain entrapment incident.

Register to see the movie at silocanada.eventbrite.com.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF