Languages
Pages
Legal
NEWS Serving Soil, Mulch, Compost, & Biofuel Professionals
Vol. V No. 2 March / April 2011
Continued on page 3
Attention Readers !
Are you looking for Products, Equipment or Services for your business? If so, please
check out these leading companies advertised in this issue:
Mulch manufacturers who are hoping to make more “green” may want to look at making more reds, browns, blacks
and lots of other colors as well. That’s because, according to some mulch
industry experts, the demand for colored mulch is a thriving and lucrative business in most parts of the U.S., affecting everyone from mulch manufacturers to lawn and garden supply stores and big box outlets who resell their products to individual landscapers and homeowners.
“Any company in the mulch production business is either considering, or has considered, or is going to make colored mulch,” says John Spencer, chief executive officer of Mulch Manufacturing in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and a pioneer in the colored mulch market. “They about have to. It’s a broad enough business that
Mulch Manufacturers See Bright Colorful Future
By P.J. Heller
Photo courtesy of Mulch Manufacturing.
Photo courtesy of Colorbiotics.
if you’re not making colored products, then you’re missing a big opportunity.”
About 25 percent of total mulch sales for Mulch Manufacturing, one of the largest mulch producers in the nation, are the colored variety, according to Spencer.
The company also sells its Nature’s Reflections colorant and its line of Cheetah coloring systems.
At Foster Brothers Wood Products in Auxvasse, Mo., company president and co-owner Jay Foster says sales of colored mulches have increased by at least 5 percent every year over the last five or six years. That amounts to about 3,100 tractor-trailer loads of colored mulch this year, about 35 percent of all materials sold“The first year we did it, we probably only sold 200 loads of colored material,” Foster says.
“The growth of the mulch industry has been helped by colorant being added to the mulch, making the mulch more attractive to the consumer,” notes Kriem Michel, national sales manager for T.H. Glennon Co. “Homeowners trying to sell their home are using this colored mulch to improve curb appeal.”
T.H. Glennon, a colorant and equipment manufacturer based in Salisbury, Mass., reports major increases each year in sales of its Colorfast colorant. Some two dozen colors are offered, including reds, browns and gold to black, blue
BAggiNg SySteMSAmadas industries – pg 12
Hamer LLC – pg 5Premiertech Chronos – pg 18Rethceif Packaging – pg 16
CoMPoSt CoVeRCompostex – pg 4ClearSpan – pg 7
CoMPoSt, MuLCH & Wood WASte FoR SALe
giorgi Mushroom – pg 11Litco international – pg 17
CoMPoSt SoFtWAReAschl Management Systems – pg 15
CoMPoSt tuRNeRSHCL Machine Works – pg 21Midwest BioSystems – pg 16
LigHt MAteRiAL BuCketSHageman earth Cycle – pg 21
MuLCH CoLoRiNg equiPMeNt/CoLoRANtS
Colorbiotics – pg 9Nature’s Reflections – pg 8
t.H. glennon – pg 7
PLAStiC ReMoVAL SySteMAirlift Separator – pg 8
SHReddeRS, gRiNdeRS, CHiPPeRS & SCReeNiNg SySteMS
Allu group inc – pg 17doppstadt – pg 19
earthSaver equipment – pg 13Morbark inc. – pg 2
orbit Screens – pg 13Peterson – pg 10
ReMu – pg 24 (back cover)Screen Machine industries – pg 22
Screen uSA – pg 14West Salem Machinery – pg 11
Wildcat/Vermeer – pg 23
tRANSPoRt tRAiLeRS travis trailers – pg 6
2 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Info Request #100
www.Morbark.com/QuickSwitch
Mulch In The Morning Chips In The Afternoon
BUILDING EQUIPMENT THAT CREATES OPPORTUNITIES
MORBARK® GRINDERSMore Versatility. More Opportunity. Normally, high-quality chips and mulch are produced on separate machines, but with the Morbark Quick Switch, you can produce both products and virtually double your market opportunities with a single Morbark grinder. The best horizontal grinders on the market are now the most versatile with the introduction of the Morbark® Quick Switch Grinder-to-Chipper Conversion Kit.
Horizontal Grinder-to-Chipper Conversion Kit.Turn grinder downtime into profi t by modifying the hammermill of your Morbark horizontal grinder in the fi eld – without special tools or heavy equipment. Make the switch and produce high-quality biomass fuel chips in only a few hours!
From Grinder to Chipper in Record Time!
MORBARK®
Go to Morbark.com/QuickSwitch to see a video demonstration or call 800-831-0042 for more information.
3March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
Continued from page 1
Publisher / EditorRick Downing
Contributing
Editors / WritersP.J. Heller
Production & LayoutBarb Fontanelle
Christine Pavelka
Advertising SalesRick Downing
Subscription / Circulation
Donna Downing
Editorial, Circulation& Advertising Office6075 Hopkins RoadMentor, OH 44060Ph: 440-257-6453Fax: 440-257-6459
Email: [email protected]
For subscription information,please call 440-257-6453.
PUBLICATION STAFF
Soil & Mulch Producer News is published quarterly by Downing & A s s o c i at e s. Re p ro d u c t i o n s or transmission of Soil & Mulch Producer News, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.
Annual subscription rate U.S. is $19.95. Outside of the U.S. add $10.00 ($29.95).ontact our main office, or mail-in the subscription form with payment.
©Copyright 2011 by Downing & Associates
Continued on page 4
Printed on 10% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper
and green. The company also manufacturers the Color Jet compact coloring unit, which officials say makes it easy and affordable for mulch producers to generate colored mulches.
Michel says mulch manufacturers are turning more and more to colored mulches to improve their bottom line. “You make more money,” she says. “You make more money when you sell colored mulch than not.”
“It is very lucrative and definitely a viable business,” agrees Andrew Tuckman, marketing manager in charge of sales, PR and outreach with Vision Recycling in Fremont, Calif.
V i s i o n R e c y c l i n g manufactures and sells colored mulch, along with nearly a dozen other products, at the landfill in Santa Cruz County.
“It’s become a thriving business,” Tuckman says. “It was a very smart move to start coloring the material. You can move the material faster and create the circle of sustainability. It created a market so we could move it off the landfill quickly.”
He says the attraction of the colored mulch is its aesthetic appeal. Kent Rotert, director of marketing and sales at Colorbiotics in Ames, Iowa, one of the largest producers of colorant and colorant systems equipment in the nation, agrees.
According to Rotert, more people are using colored mulch products today because more people are reinvesting in their homes and properties today than they were in past years.
This trend is driven by the slowdown in home sales and plummeting home values, resulting in people holding on to and fixing up their properties. Despite the economic slump, consumers are still willing to spring for colored mulch to spruce up their properties.
“It’s certainly not the price point because it’s more expensive,” Tuckman says. “It just looks good.”
Utilizing equipment and colorant from Amerimulch, Vision Recycling offers its colored mulches to landscapers, do-it-yourselfers and to wholesale nurseries who then resell it.
One of those landscapers, Nikos Lynch of Terra Bella Landscaping in Santa Cruz, says it’s usually an easy matter to sell clients on colored mulch rather than non-colored.“When you see the two together, nine out of 10 are going to pick the colored mulch, even though it costs one-third more,” he says.
That cost differential may be offset somewhat by the fact that the colored mulches last longer than most natural materials, according to manufacturers.
“Almost any colored mulch will exceed the longevity of hardwood,” Spencer says. “Colored mulch won’t fade as quickly ... We have colorants that will last more than two years. We have done accelerated testing where we can keep a colorant out in the rain for over three years. The colorants are getting better all the time. So
the product lasts longer in the environment.”
Foster agrees, saying that the longevity of the colored mulches is one of its biggest selling points, even though it may be 30 to 40 percent more expensive.
“A lot of people in the urban areas hire someone to spread the mulch in their yard and the labor tends to be rather expensive to spread the mulch,” he notes. “It’s probably more expensive than the mulch itself. If you get two seasons out of
colored mulch versus one season out of the natural materials and if you’re hiring somebody to do it, I think in the long run you’re saving money even though the colored mulch is more expensive.”
Rotert of Colorbiotics says that while its UV-treated colorants last longer than untreated wood, there are other considerations that need to be taken into account. Among them: the type of wood source, type of colorant and how it is applied. The company maintains a full lab and will do studies for customers to determine the life of a colorant on a wood source.
Foster, who operates one of the largest wood byproducts companies in Missouri, started selling colored mulches about 12 years ago.
“Truthfully, we didn’t want to [get into the colored mulch market] but a lot of our customers started requesting it because their customers were requesting it,” he says.
While there is little debate about the marketability of colored mulches, there is little consensus on what color sells best. Much depends on where in the U.S. the colored mulch is going to be used. “Every geographic region is very different across the United States,” Rotert says, noting that is the reason his company has territory managers located throughout the nation.
“The markets are different and the needs are different from a geographical standpoint,” he explains. “So what’s needed in the Northwest is different than what’s needed in the Southeast, not only in the colorant but in the support and the equipment and the knowledge of the industry and the consumer.”
Colorbiotics offers nearly 20 different colorants, ranging from reds, browns and black
Mulch Manufacturers See Bright Colorful Future
“Colored mulch won’t fade as quickly ... We have colorants
that will last more than two years. We have done
accelerated testing where we can keep a colorant out in
the rain for over three years. The colorants are getting better all the time. So the product lasts longer in the
environment.”
4 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
to orange, blue, green and yellow. The company recently launched an iPhone app that helps customers select the best color mulch and the proper quantity for their property.
Foster sells five different colors: red, a light and dark brown, black and gold. The black and gold mulches don’t sell well, although Foster says black is a top seller in the East. The two shades of brown are the big sellers, accounting for about 70 percent of his colored mulch sales.
He recalls one customer’s request for blue colored mulch to match a college team’s colors; that project was eventually scrapped due to the prohibitive cost for just a limited amount of the mulch.
“If I had my druthers, we wouldn’t produce but one color of mulch because you have to have more storage, more colorant . . .” Foster says
Even if a store carried five shades of red colored mulch, someone would want a slight variation in the color, he says.
“For the consumer, the more choices there are the better,” he notes. “Sometimes for the manufacturer that’s not the case.”
The colored mulches are produced by three Colorbiotics machines (a Sahara 300, Sahara 200 and a Second Harvester) located at three of the five yards around the state operated by Foster.
Mulch Manufacturing produces about 35 different colors, ranging from various shades of red to browns and golden. Earth tones, such as dark red, black and golden, have tended to be the biggest sellers, Spencer says.“The most popular color is red,” he notes. “There are a variety of shades, from real deep burgundy or maroon to lighter reds and more vivid reds. Black is also a very popular color in some places. But in some places you can’t sell a single bag of black. In other areas, black is the most popular. Overall,
Continued from page 3
Mulch Manufacturers See Bright Colorful Future
in all areas, red is the best seller.”Spencer says that brown colored mulch has been gaining in popularity.
“Brown has never been a very popular color but it is coming on more strongly now,” he reports. “We’ve seen more growth in brown in the last year or two than anything else.”
Vision Recycling limits its offering to mahogany (brown), barnwood (red) and black. “They’re all comparable [in sales],” Tuckman reports.
Michel of T.H. Glennon agrees that location will largely determine the popularity of a color.
“In Florida, the number one color is red. The number two color is red. And the number three color is red,” she says with a laugh. “It took me years before I could get Floridians to make brown.”
Black and brown mulches are the preferred colors everywhere except in Florida, she says.
In the Pacific Northwest, Vicki Leiber of Swanson Bark & Wood Products says colored mulches have never caught on there. The Longview, Wash., company, in business since 1928, produces mulch, custom soil mixes and recycled wood products.
“We actually tried in different ways to get into this market, but in the Pacific Northwest we use mainly fir bark,” says Leiber, who co-owns Swanson with her husband John. “It’s already a red color, a very pretty color. People in this area are not interested in red-colored wood. To them that’s not a good substitute for the fir bark that we use.”
Leiber said Swanson made efforts in the past to produce and sell colored mulches, purchasing equipment and colorants from two different manufacturers.
“We tried it retail. We tried bagging it. We took it to shows. People got all excited when they saw the big pile of bright color and they went over and looked at it and then they went, ‘Oh wait, this is just colored wood,’” Leiber says.
Spencer, however, says there is more to colored mulch than just applying a colorant to the wood. “Depending on the colorant, it can wash off if it’s not done properly,” he says. “It can stain sidewalks if it’s not properly set or have the right binders in it. Part of our ongoing work in improving our colorant product is to improve its longevity . . .”
Spencer also sees the possibility of expanding the use of colored mulches. “I think possibly once you start putting colorant on wood fiber to put out in your landscaping, there is the opportunity to put other attributes into the mulch also.”
Those attributes might include such things as retardant chemicals for insects and fertilizer and weed-killing attributes “so that it has other applications other than just aesthetics. “We’re onboard with that already,” Spencer says. “We’re doing a lot of work in that area.”
Michel notes that T.H. Glennon already adds a mold and fungus protection for wood mulch to its colorant.“The additive protects the dried colorant film against discoloration caused by microbial attack and thereby improves color longevity and durability,” she explains. “Mulch makers can make larger colored mulch piles without loss of color.”
Rotert says he expects the market for colored mulch to continue to grow despite higher costs to manufacturers for everything from raw material and diesel fuel to labor and plastics.
“Where the market will be at 10 years from now, I don’t know,” Foster adds. “All mulch sales might be colored.”
Colored mulch being produced at Mulch Manufacturing in Reynoldsburg, OH. Photo courtesy of Mulch Manufacturing.
Info Request #158
Features• 100% UV-Stabilized • Durable/reusable• Lightweight• Custom Sizes• Reasonably Priced
ComposTex
Doug,
CV Compost ad changes to existing ¼ page ad:
1) Compostex should be: ComposTex2) Remove current phone number and replace with: Call Toll Free: 877-406-2398
Thank you!T.
Call Toll Free: 877-406-2398Fax: 802-425-5557
Web: www.cvcompost.comEmail: [email protected]
Call Toll Free: 877-406-2398Website: www.cvcompost.com
5March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWS
Info Request #107
www.hamerinc.com
MODEL 2090/300VF• Fast 28-30 BPM production rates• 50% fewer wear parts• Easy to operate, less adjustments• Consolidated operator controls
6 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWS
www.travistrailers.com
www.travistrailers.com
Info Request #162
Waste Management, Inc. to Develop New Organics Facility
Waste Management, Inc. recently announced it is developing a new organics facility in Okeechobee, Florida. The facility will process yard, food and clean wood waste to create value added soil amendments as well as bagged lawn and garden products.
The facility, located adjacent to Waste Management’s existing Okeechobee Landfill operation, is the company’s first dedicated organics composting site in Florida. The eight acre site will offer organics recycling services to the South Florida region with operations expected to begin in the spring of 2011.
The Okeechobee facility is part of Waste Management’s expansion of its organics recycling solutions and key to developing new, high value-added end markets for organic materials and accelerating the growth of organics recycling across North America. Waste Management recently acquired a majority equity interest in Garick LLC, a leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of organic lawn and garden products, which has served to expand Waste Management’s organics recycling capabilities to over 1 million tons. The company has also invested in new and emerging technologies to convert organic energy into transportation fuels, and ultimately, petrochemicals and chemicals.
City is Divided over Anaerobic Digester on Park Land
Palo Alto, CA-Those proposing to build a new anaerobic digester composting facility in the Baylands, by rezoning part
of the city’s landfill, are fighting complaints filed with the state of California to cancel the project, reports mercurynews.com. Walter Hays, of the Palo Alto Green Energy and Compost Initiative group, rebutted the California State Lands Commission and requested that the agency deny requests by former Palo Alto council members Enid Pearson and Emily Renzel, and lawyer Tom Jordan to end the project. Hays represents former Palo Alto mayor Peter Drekmeier, Robert Wenzlau and other supporters of the initiative. When the landfill reaches capacity, it is to be covered and added to the park. Hays claims an anaerobic digester would support the commission’s mission and that it would produce enough clean energy to power 1,400 homes and reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 20,000 tons per year. Opponents maintain that an industrial facility doesn’t belong on dedicated park land.
Palo Alto and the state commission disagree over who owns the Baylands, with the city entering a 48-year rent-free lease with the state in 1989 to avoid a legal battle. The city says it has complied with its lease but Pearson, Renzel and Jordan allege that Palo Alto violated its lease by changing property lines and keeping covered parts of the landfill closed to the public. A divided city council wants a feasibility study and more discussion. It is expected that there will be a vote on the matter in November.
Maine Offers Municipalities Help with Recycling Funding
Augusta, ME—The Maine State Planning Office’s Waste Management & Recycling Program is offering
competitive grants to help start or increase municipal recycling and composting efforts, reports new.bangordailynews.com. Designed to help municipal recycling programs capture more materials, with a focus on corrugated cardboard, it will also develop or expand yard debris composting. Eligibility for the grants includes municipalities or publicly supported solid waste programs, and regional programs have priority. Some $300,000 is available, and individual awards are limited to $25,000. A local match of at least 15% of the total is also needed, but certain in-kind contributions can be used as well as cash. Applications must be postmarked April 14 or delivered to the State Planning Office by 4 p.m. on April 15.
7March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWSResearch Identifies Eight Issues for Soil Health and a Four-way Strategy to Achieve it
Madison, WI-A team of soil researchers representing the 2008 Emerging Issues in Soil Science Committee of the Soil Science Society of America has identified the eight vital issues that will
challenge future generations who must deal with the changes over time in soil structure. The changes that are affecting our planet such a climate change, sprawl and environmental degradation will also mean a negative impact on soil, much as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s showed how bad soil management and farming practices damaged millions of acres of land and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
The issues included demands for food, water, nutrients, and energy, as well as climate change, biodiversity loss, biological waste recycling, and global resource equity. Researchers say that avoiding environmental damage will take a four-step approach: refocusing research to the most urgent problems, expanding the view from only soil to encompass entire ecosystems, attracting young scientists to the field of soil science, and improving soil science’s image problem by identifying past successes and future prospects.
SSSA has also identified research priority areas and knowledge gaps to guide interdisciplinary soil science research for the next few decades. For more information, visit the Grand Challenges online, at https://www.soils.org/about-society/grand-challenges. The full study is available in the January/ February 2011 issue of Soil Science Society of America Journal.
www.mulchcolorjet.com
For more info, go to the WHEN Advertisers' Directory at www.wastehandling.comInfo Request #150
IncReAse YouR MARket exposuReAdvertise in Soil & Mulch Producer News. For more information call 440-257-6453.
Compostbuildings
Compost covers
Waste storageliners & covers
Non-wovengeo-textileunderliners
fabric structures
Sustainable Design-Build Solutions
Call one of our ClearSpan™ specialists at 1.866.643.1010 or visit us at www.ClearSpan.com. Mention code ADSMPN.
Info Request #166
8 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWS
www.airliftseparator.com
Xylose May Hold Key to Increased Ethanol Production
Ethanol production could be significantly increased — by more than 20 percent — through the use of xylose, a wood sugar found in fast-growing plant species such as straw and willow, according to a
report on lu.se. Ethanol is produced by fermenting sugars from plant material. Xylose
is not currently used despite it being the second most common type of sugar found in nature.
“Succeeding with xylose requires good, quick enzymes that can get the yeast to also ferment the less appetizing xylose,” according to the report.
Research conducted by Nadia Skorupa Parachin at Lund University in Sweden indicated that her enzymes — extracted from garden soil — bind xylose more efficiently than those that have been tested previously. Research is continuing into the technique, which has the potential to substantially increase ethanol production.
St. Louis Composting Acquires ORMI
St. Louis, MO-St. Louis Composting Inc. has purchased Organic Resource Management Inc., a commercial composting facility for undisclosed terms, reports stltoday.com. ORMI will continue to
operate under its original name. The move will give St. Louis Composting a physical presence in North St. Louis County and a way to more efficiently provide products and services to its regional customer base. St. Louis Composting is headquartered at a 26-acre facility in Valley Park and maintains a four-acre transfer station in Maryland Heights and a 10-acre composting and retail facility in St. Louis.
Info Request #168
Info Request #102
9March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
www.colorbiotics.com
Take our new red and black for a run. (It’ll be intense.)
As if Colorbiotics mulch colorants weren’t already the world’s most popular, we’re making our red and black versions even more desirable. We’ve enhanced these super-concentrated, highly popular colors to be even redder and blacker, with greater intensity and the same outstanding durability and longevity as before.
At Colorbiotics, we take pride in being the leader of new product development for the mulch industry. These new technologies help you grow your business, increase your profi ts, and enhance your yield. We support these new and existing products with unmatched customer support.
Check out the difference — contact us and schedule a red or black color run today! ®
888.663.6980 | Colorbiotics.com
THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
Colorbiotics and the Colorbiotics logo are trademarks of Becker Underwood in the U.S. and / or other countries. © 2011 Colorbiotics. All Rights Reserved.
Info Request #116
10 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
www.petersoncorp.com
Info Request #127
11March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWSSouthern Soils Fertilized by Swine Manure Show Some Higher Bacteria, No Health Effect
Mississippi State, MS—A new study by the USDA-ARS Crop Science Research Laboratory at Mississippi State looks at the levels of nutrients and bacteria in soils of fields that have been
sprayed with manure for 15 years or more as a nutrient to see if swine manure is adding harmful bacteria as well as nutrients.
Manure sprayed fields were found to contain higher concentrations of several types of bacteria. Measurements included total bacteria, fecal bacteria, Staphylococcus and Clostridium. Two other types of bacteria that are potential pathogens, E.coli and Enterococcus, showed no differences in between sprayed or non-sprayed fields. One type of bacteria, Listeria, was found in higher concentrations outside, rather than inside, the fields. Two gastrointestinal pathogens, Campylobacter and Salmonella, could not be cultured in any significant amount from the fields.
The researchers then looked at public health data from three public health districts with similar land areas, populations and agricultural bases, but with varying numbers of swine confined animal feeding operations (CAFO). Their analysis of illnesses caused by Campylobacter and Salmonella from 1993 through 2008 showed no relationship between reported cases of these human illnesses and swine CAFO numbers. The research team also tested soils for nutrient levels and found higher pH and higher levels of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium, copper, and zinc inside spray fields compared to outside, as expected for spray fields after long-term use. Finding differences between the same soil types inside and outside confirmed that outside soils had not been contaminated with manure and would provide good comparisons of bacteria. This first report on spray field bacteria in the region suggests manure nutrient management plans have been effective for nutrients and for bacterial pathogens. The extensive results are reported in the September-October 2010 Journal of Environmental Quality.
Study: Mixed Results Seen in Switch to Organic Farming
A four-year study into the feasibility of converting farmland to organic feed grain production — aimed at meeting the growing demand for organic milk — has had mixed results and further
study is needed, agronomy.org reports. Researchers from Penn State University and the University of New
Hampshire conducted the study in central Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2007. They looked at if and how tillage can be successfully reduced and at how different management strategies might affect weed populations, crop yields and profitability during the transition.
The study included two cropping systems in which cover crops grown during the first year of a three-year cover crop–soybean–corn rotation and tillage (full or reduced) were manipulated.
The results showed that from a weed management perspective, reduced tillage for organic production could be problematic for some farmers.
“Weed populations dramatically increased in reduced tillage systems,” researchers said, describing it as a “troubling result.”
From an economic perspective, the study says that growers who want to move to organic production while minimizing tillage may see variable economic success depending on how they begin their rotation. Costs associated with manure and compost, which was purchased off-farm, also strongly influenced the economics of the systems. Integrated systems that include field crop and dairy production, where manure sources are available on-site or locally, would improve the economics of these systems, researchers said.
Call 610-926-8811ext. 8118
for more information
Giorgi Mushroom Co. Temple, PA
Dew Fresh, Inc. Lenhartsville, PA ( off Route 78 )
Available from...
Mushroom CompostA formulated, compostedmaterial that is excellent for gardening and landscaping.
Shown to Suppress ArtilleryFungus in Mulch Products. prices per cubic yArd:
Fresh Material$1.50/yard from growing rooms
$2.00/yard from stockpile($25.00 minimum loading fee)
Aged Material$8.00/yard from stockpile
Info Request #108
Info Request #151
www.westsalem.com
12 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
The Amadas Soils & Bark Bagger is the bagger of choice for serious bark, soil andcompost bagging operations.
Amadas Industries established the standard in the bark and soils industry and now with over 30 years and millions of bags of experience, we are setting a new benchmark with innovative, modern design technology coupled with improved reliability and increased production capacity.
So, whether you’re just starting out and want a bagging system to establish the foundation of your growing business,or if you already operate a number of high productionplants and are thinking ofupgrading or automating with Form Fill and Seal equipment, let us put our experience to workfor you!
Soil Products • Bark Mulch • Wood Chips • Compost
The AmadasThe AmadasSoils & Bark BaggerSoils & Bark Bagger.........when you’r...when you’re seriouse serious
about bagging!!about bagging!!
Amadas Industries1100 Holland Rd.Suffolk, VA 23434http://www.amadas.com
Call Today...757-539-0231
Info Request #142
Agricultural Land Finds Faster Nutrient Recovery if Grazed
A study funded by the Agriculture Research Service tested cattle grazing on soil degraded by years of field plowing
to see if it would help restore depleted nutrients. Over the course of 12 years, different land management practices were used on 18 different paddocks to monitor the soils’ response, and it was found that paddocks with medium to heavy grazing were best at sequestering nitrogen and carbon in the soil to improve fertility and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The findings will help land owners determine whether keeping land unused restores degraded soils better than allowing cattle to graze it.
Alan Franzluebbers, an ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service at the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center in Watkinsville, GA, and his team used four different management techniques: moderately grazed, heavily grazed, not grazed but harvested for hay; or not grazed or harvested. Land that was unused and not harvested had high surface residue accumulation that prevented erosion, but it did not sequester carbon and nitrogen as well as grazing. Land not grazed but harvested for hay had little nutrient retention plus problems with erosion. The study is available in the November/December 2010 issue of Soil Science Society of America Journal.
Trees, Shrubs, Studied as Landfill Caps
A pilot study capping or sealing landfills using trees and shrubs planted in a mix of compost and topsoil is being carried out on part of an abandoned 30-acre municipal landfill in Beltsville, Md., usda.gov reports.
Utilizing the vegetation — rather than traditional clay caps — is more environmentally sound and economical, according to officials. The vegetative caps will reduce methane emissions and prevent rainfall from getting into the municipal waste and then leaching into groundwater.
Those involved in the study include Pat Millner, a scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA safety manager David Prevar, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and private consultants.
EPA officials say the project could serve as a model. Maryland officials say that numerous landfills statewide could benefit from the alternative cap plan.
Researchers Working to Develop ‘Designer Soils’ for Degraded Lands
“Designer soils” which can turn degraded lands into sports fields, rain gardens, lawns or other uses,
are being developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reports usda.gov.
The constructed soil research project, now in its fourth year, is being carried out at the USDA’s Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center in Beaver, WV. It is being done in cooperation with the National Turfgrass Research Initiative.
Researchers are looking at mixing readily available rural, urban and industrial byproducts from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and southern Pennsylvania with local soils. The aim is to reduce rain runoff and erosion as well as eliminate or neutralize pollutants before they hit storm drains.
Quarry byproducts and composted chicken litter provide the most promising mixture thus far, they report. Other materials being looked at include biochar, mine spoils and coal-combustion byproducts.
13March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
www.orbitscreens.com
Info Request #117
Info Request #163
Buy w Sell w ConsignUsed - Wood & Greenwaste
Recycling Equipment
(866) 227-2244Sales Office in Kalispell, MT—Machines Nationwide
Tub Grinders1996 Morbark 1000, 350HP ......................... $49,5002005 Lane 5211, 590HP (400hr) .....................73,0002006 Rotochopper CP-118, 120HP (850hr) ...77,0001993 Morbark 1200, 650HP (9500hr) ............87,5002002 Vermeer TG525L, 525HP (1000hr) .... 140,000HorizonTal Grinders1998 Peterson HC4400B, 800HP (2100hr) .. $90,0002003 Peterson 2400B, 450HP (2400hr) ....... 113,0002000 Morbark 5600, 860HP (5500hr) ......... 150,0002004 Peterson 4700, 630HP (3900hr) ......... 160,0002004 Bandit 3680, 650HP (3300hr) ............. 197,5002005 Peterson 4710B, 765HP (5000hr) ....... 235,000screeninG equipmenT2005 Wildcat 516, (1000hr) .................... .....$97,5002004 McCloskey 621RE, (3000hr) ............... 135,000Call or visit us online for our complete listings of
Grinders, Wood/Soil Screening Machines, Mulch Coloring Machines, Bark Blower Trucks,
Chippers, Compost Turners & More!
2006 Extec E7 Screener (1900hr) ...............$118,000
www.earthsaverequipment.com
Study: Biochar Reduces Emissions of Nitrous Oxide, Nitrogen
Emissions of nitrous oxide and nitrogen leaching from agriculture soil were reduced with the use of biochar, according
to a five-month research study. The results, reported in agronomy.org, could be used to help limit greenhouse gases and reduce nitrogen losses from soil.
Scientists from Industry and Investment New South Wales and the University of Sydney reported that the benefits of biochar on soil may occur over time. Biochar applications to soil samples subjected to three wetting-drying cycles initially produced greater nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching.
Four months later, however, the biochar reduced nitrous oxide emissions by up to 73 percent and ammonium leaching by up to 94 percent.
“This research highlights that impacts of biochar on nitrogen transformations in soil may change over time and hence stresses the need for long-term studies to assess biochar’s potential to reduce nitrogen losses from soil,” notes researcher Bhupinder Pat Singh.
Biochar is similar to charcoal and is produced from agricultural, farm or animal waste through gasification or pyrolysis, a form of incineration that chemically decomposes organic materials by heat in the absence of oxygen.
Researchers: Switchgrass Can Reduce Nitrogen, Nitrates Leaching into Soil
Reducing the amount of nitrogen and nitrates that leach into soil can be significantly reduced by planting switchgrass and using
certain agronomic practices. “One of the biggest things we found is that
when alternative biomass sources like switchgrass are grown, even when they use fertilizer, we see dramatically lower nitrate concentrations (in the drainage water),” reports Matt Helmers, associate professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University.
The report on iastate.edu notes that fields planted with switchgrass and treated with fertilizer or manure had the least amount of nitrates leach through the soil. Fields planted in continuous corn and treated with fertilizer had the most amount of nitrates leach into the tile system. Helmers and Antonio Mallarino, professor of agronomy, have been studying the amount of nitrates that pass through soil into tiling systems from several different types of crops and fertilizer treatments for the past three summers.
Researchers say there currently is no economic benefit to the crop. “If there is enough societal benefit and water quality benefit from growing switchgrass on these soils, there may be potential incentives for producers to grow (switchgrass),” Helmers says.
14 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
Info Request #105
Vancouver Rolls Out Ambitious Recycling Effort
Vancouver, BC-The City of Vancouver, BC, plans to reduce household and business waste by recycling 70% of it by
2015 and 80% by 2020, reports theepochtimes.com. The proposed Zero Waste Challenge Strategy will start with kitchen scraps from single-family homes by the end of next year.By 2015 the ban will include all residences and businesses. It will focus on recycling organic waste, estimated at 40% of trash volumes, but removing all wood waste and increasing the list of banned substances is also planned. Organic waste will be re-routed through compost bins picked up weekly, and regular garbage collection will be reduced to every other week pickups.
Metro Vancouver now recycles 55% of their waste, among the highest in the country, while the national average is 22%. But an expanding population and increase in per capita waste has generated a more aggressive stance. Rule violators will be fined and disposal inspections increased. However, the approach will be one of teamwork rather than punishment. Each municipality will be responsible for its own enforcement and education, with Metro Vancouver, providing information to the residents, institutions, and business.
Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers will take responsibility for the lifecycle of their products, according to the Zero Waste report. The guidelines for the new strategy were introduced at a conference March 11 in Burnaby.
Grassed Waterways Reduce Soil Erosion and Herbicide Concentrations
Coshocton, OH - Water runoff from cropped farm fields can contain large amounts of eroded soil as well as
fertilizer and herbicide. A team of USDA-ARS and Ohio State University scientists has, in a two-year field study, explored whether compost filter socks in grassed waterways reduced sediment flow and retain dissolved chemicals in runoff. The researchers found reduced sediment and reduced concentrations of two herbicides, as the study found that filter socks reduced sediment concentration by 49% in runoff from a tilled field, but had no effect for a no-till field, where sediment concentrations were already 1/5 of that from the tilled field. The filter socks also reduced the concentrations of the herbicide alachlor by 18% and the herbicide glyphosate by 5% in runoff from the tilled field. The filter socks had a negligible effect on nutrient concentrations in the runoff. A report was published in the May-June 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality.
UMW Research Shows Soil-Borne Pathogens Help Tree Diversity
Milwaukee, WI-University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers have found that soil-borne pathogens are one
important mechanism to keep species diversity and explain tree abundance in a forest. It is known that tree seedlings do not grow well under adult trees of the same species. Tropical tree populations are seen as more diverse because adult trees harbor diseases that harm seedlings of their own species. UWM experiments show that underground organisms are key to the maintenance of this species diversity and patterns of tree-species’ relative abundance. The detrimental effects of soil organisms from adult trees also show these effects are much more severe for seedlings of rare species than for seedlings of common species. The ability of seedlings of a species to survive when grown in soil from the same species actually predicted how common or rare they are as adults.
The findings contradict the Neutral Theory of Biodiversity, which maintains that all species are the same by positing that there are stabilizing mechanisms that maintain diversity. This study received funding from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the U.S. National Science Foundation.
15March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
www.compostsoftware.comInfo Request #167
16 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWS
Info Request #154
420 Industrial Parkway, Ossian, IN 46777 I Phone: 260-622-7200 I Toll Free: 866-298-1876 I Fax: 260-622-7220 I www.rethceif.com I [email protected]
“A Rethceif design is complete when it accomplishes the finest final package with the least amount of waste, movement and wear items possible.”
1 year payback on your machine. Rethceif equipment is so reliable you can achieve a 1 year payback on your investment.
15 minutes to change bag sizes. And no tools required.
6 - 8 cents saved on every bag by switching to single flat roll film. Every Rethceif bagger utilizes Form, Fill, and Seal technology. This means every bag is made at the machine from a single roll of film.
100100 percent of commercially available components available from suppliers nationwide. Rethceif strives to make its equipment easy to own and maintain.
Talk to various film suppliers. Contact us via our web page or phone. Experience the Rethceif Difference.
Midwest Bio-Systems • 28933–35 E St., Tampico, IL 61283 • 800-689-0714
[email protected] • www.midwestbiosystems.com
YOU CAN PRODUCE
FOR ANY SIZE OPERATION
Info Request #125
U.S. Composting Council Helps Fight Landfill Ban Repeals
The U.S. Composting Council (USCC) and its membership are working hard to fight attempts by state legislatures to repeal long-standing bans on the disposal of leaves and other yard debris in
landfills in Georgia and Michigan. Both states have seen similar efforts in the past few years turned back by recycling supporters with help from the USCC and local composters.
According to the USCC, the combination of the economic downturn and increased environmental awareness has reduced the amount of material going into landfills, and the repeal of these bans would provide ready cash in the form of “tipping fees” to the landfill industry. “It’s a classic ‘lose-lose’ situation,” explained Frank Franciosi, President of the USCC. “You fill up the landfill faster, which means you have to site a new landfill sooner, and you take one of the easiest materials to recycle away from the processors, so it no longer gets manufactured into valuable soil products.”
To fight these repeals, the USCC is taking a two-pronged approach. First and foremost it is working with groups within the affected states to lobby the legislatures and rally their supporters. “We provide matching funds to help the local groups hire lobbyists and get organized,” Franciosi continued, “because each state’s needs are unique and the issues and strategies are different.”
In addition to working with the state groups, the USCC will be working to gain support from allied organizations and other supporters across the country. “We are putting a ‘member alert’ system in place to make it easy for friends of composting to send letters to the appropriate policy makers,” explained Dr. Stuart Buckner, Executive Director of the USCC. “We are also building a library of resources to help people advocate for more sensible policies such as composting and recycling”.
17March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWS
Info Request #128
Info Request #155
www.litco.com
ALLU Group Inc.Info Call: 1-800-939-2558 | Email: [email protected]
www.allu.net
Fine Screener Model5/8” or 1” Screen SizeDisc in Disc drum design
Screener Crusher Model1” or 4” Screen SizeChangeable blades
• Over 70 models available to fi t EVERY machine• High production even with wet muddy materials• 5/8” & 1” Screening size• Stronger outer shell for longer wear and less maintenance
new allu d-series modelsnew allu d-series models
Pipeline Padding
Mix CompostScreen Soils
Travis Body & Trailer, Inc. Acquires Everlite Alumatech Assets
Travis Body & Trailer, Inc., of Houston, Texas recently completed the acquisition of the assets of Everlite, Inc., the former manufacturer of the Alumatech Trailer product line. The transaction did not
include the real property located in Longview Texas. The purchase includes all of the manufacturing assets, intellectual property, drawings, extrusion dies, and all production and sales records.
The assets will be immediately relocated to Travis’ 17 acre, 100,000 square foot manufacturing facilities in Houston, Texas, where trailer and body production will begin as soon as the equipment is in place and aluminum sheet and extrusions are procured.
The product line will be called Alumatech, and will bear a Travis VIN plate. The new Travis Alumatech product line will begin building virtually the same trailers and bodies as were produced by Everlite, and the offering will include aluminum end dumps in frameless, quarter-frame, and frame-type configurations, and the all-aluminum Alumatech Dump body.
Distribution of the Travis Alumatech model will be achieved through a combination of the existing Travis Independent Dealer network, and by adding dealer relationships with several of the former Everlite, Inc. dealers.
Replacement parts and service for Alumatech trailers will be available immediately from Travis Body & Trailer, in Houston Texas.
Current Alumatech owners, interested dealers, and other interested parties should register their contact and email information at www.travistrailers.com.
To subscribe to Soil & Mulch Producer News, call 440-257-6453 today.
18 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch Producer NEWS
HTTP://PTCHRONOS.COM
Scientists: Plants Manage to Adapt, Thrive in Soil Contaminated with Radiation
Plants have the ability to adapt and thrive in radiation-contaminated soil, according to scientists who conducted a study near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
The study, reported in acs.org, could have implications for the land around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan, which was severely damaged March 11 by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami.
The Chernobyl study found that plants had an unexpected and unique ability to shrug off the effects of radiation in the soil left by the 1986 nuclear disaster in the Ukraine. Flax seed grown in the area, for example, showed little protein change compared to seed grown in non-radioactive soil. Only about 5 percent of the proteins were altered.
“Based on the observed changes, the proteome of seeds from plants grown in radio-contaminated soil display minor adjustments to multiple signaling pathways,” the study says.
Previous research indicated that soybeans adapted to the contaminated soil with some changes in their proteins. The broader range of biochemical changes in plants that allow them to thrive in such a s harsh environment remained unclear.
Wood Waste Heats BC Campus; First in Bioenergy
Prince George, BC-The University of Northern B.C., which uses wood waste to heat its buildings, is the first university in Canada to use a bioenergy plant to generate heat for the campus, reports
winnipegfreepress.com. Wood waste comes from nearby mills, and the effort is hoped to reduce air pollution by up to 4,000 tons a year. The plant is expected to use 8,000 tons of wood waste a year, replacing 85% of the university’s natural gas usage and to save more than $500,000 a year. The project was given $20.7 million from the federal and provincial governments. It will also be used for research and education on bioenergy.
The plant used Vancouver-based Nexterra Systems Corp.’s biomass gasification technology to convert wood waste products into a synthetic gas – syngas – which burns as clean as natural gas for one-third the cost, according to Nexterra president and CEO Jonathan Rhone. Nexterra has also sold its systems to the University of South Carolina, the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. healthcare facilities as it targets universities, hospitals, municipalities and industrial facilities – a market worth $20 billion. Rhone says communities don’t need to have mills and forestry activity, as all urban areas have a lot of wood that has often gone to landfills, so it’s not just for areas that have a forest industry,” he said. “We’re selling into municipalities and cities across North America.
attention: readers!Would you like more information about products and equipment advertised in this issue? If so,
please complete the Equipment Locator Service form located between pages 12 & 13 and fax to 440-257-6459.
Info Request #119
19March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Info Request #129
SCreen. better.Grind It.Shred It. Screen It.
Screen Super-Wet Material (with no build-up. seriously.)Replace any SM 720 trommel drum with our star screen module, and maintain dry production rates through rain, winter or other high-moisture conditions. For even greater productivity, our Tri-Flex three-way standalone star screen can produce three end products. The unique elliptical star shape coupled with alternating shaft speeds keeps stars free of build-up, maximizing performance all day long. Ready to learn more? Visit www.DoppstadtStarScreens.com today.
www.DoppstadtStarScreens.com 440-937-3225
elliptical star shape
robust material action
feed auger
SM1200 Tri-Flex
20 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Pro
du
ct/E
qu
ipm
ent
Pro
file
s Big Hanna Composter Expands into North American Market
Swedish company Susteco AB has entered the North American market with their on-site, in-vessel, aerobic
composting machine Big Hanna (www.bighanna.com).
This automated, all stainless steel composter has twenty years of history with installations in 16 countries. Durable and reliable, the first Big Hanna, installed in 1991, is still in use. Big Hanna can operate in both warm and cold climates, indoors as well as outdoors. Capacities for the four models available to the North American market range from 330 to 2,600 lbs. per week.
Big Hanna is designed for local composting of food waste from multi-residential, institutional and commercial sectors. Big Hanna produces pathogen free, ready-to-use compost from all food wastes, including fish, meat and dairy solids. The fully enclosed design provides for odorless composting. Big Hanna offers easy loading and automatic discharge. Thanks to various design features, very little maintenance is required.
For more information visit www.vertal.ca.
Colorbiotics® Introduces Mobile App for Calculating Landscape Mulch Needs
Landscapers and do-it-yourselfers with an iPhone now have an innovative mobile app to assist in calculating the amount of
landscape mulch needed to complete a specific job. Mulch Tools, developed by Colorbiotics®, has an additional feature that allows users to preview various colored mulch options to determine those they feel would work best with specific home façades and colors.
In addition to the mulch calculator, Mulch Tools also includes a handy interactive feature that allows users to visualize the possibilities available with colored mulch. The user can choose the exterior façade / fabrication of their home and then apply various colored mulch options to the landscaped surroundings. This provides a visual representation of how the finished landscape will appear.
Mulch Tools also helps users preview various colored mulch options.
The Mulch Tools app is available as a free download from the iTunes store or by visiting the Colorbiotics website at www.colorbiotics.com.
Fuccillo Design Introduces The Freezer Compost Bin
Th e F r e e z e r Compost Bin is a modern, easy-
to-use container for collecting organic scraps for composting.
It makes collecting scraps indoors easy by eliminating the three most commonly faced challenges: odors, fruit flies, and leftover mess. The bin is specifically made to be kept in your freezer, where your scraps won’t decompose, therefore eliminating odor and fruit flies completely.
It’s also a breeze to empty. It’s made of silicone, a non-petroleum based, recyclable, natural material made from silica, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water. The Freezer Compost Bin is produced in Los Angeles, California, and comes with a lifetime guarantee.
For more information visit www.fuccillodesign.com.
Morbark Introduces 3800XL Horizontal Grinder
Mo r b a r k r e c e n t l y released its
new 3800XL Horizontal Grinder to the market. This new grinder contains significant changes and improvements in feeding technology which dramatically increases production capacity and operating efficiency.
The primary difference between this unit and all others is its redesigned reverse-pivot feed system which minimizes space between the feed wheel and the hammermill. There is no place for material to hide in this unit, which keeps debris moving forward with uninterrupted, steady production.
“It’s like our old Morbark 4600 on steroids! We’re getting substantially more production with better fuel efficiency, and the new remote makes it very easy to dial in exactly the speed we need to keep the belt full all the time,” said Gord Edwards of Windsor Disposal Services. “It’s so user friendly and easy to adjust, we can focus on keeping it full and filling trailers,” he added.
The Morbark 3800XL is available with a variety of engine choices up to 800.
For more information visit www.morbark.com.
Premier Tech Chronos Introduces Form-Fill-Seal Baggers
The FFS Series Horizontal Form-Fill-Seal Baggers are fully automatic systems, which make their own
bags from rolls of polyethylene pre-printed center-folded film (U film). They are intended to package a wide range of loose fill materials such as soils, mulch, compost, bark and peat moss in bags ranging from 4.5 to 100 quarts (5 to 110 liters) at up to 33 bags per minute.
These FFS can be integrated upstream to either a weighing or a volumetric feeding system, and downstream to conveying and palletizing systems. With more than 275 FFS sold worldwide, we have developed the widest range of options: top patch handle, bottom patch handle, die cut handle, bag top trimmer, size-adjustable filling chute, pneumatic film roll support, etc. These options improve the quality of the bags and help to achieve higher productivity.
For more information, contact Huguette at 418-868-8324, [email protected] or visit www.ptchronos.com
Litco’s Inca Presswood Pallets Free of TBP, Mold and Ready for Export
Lightweight, space-saving, water resistant and affordable, Inca presswood pallets are precision
molded under high heat and pressure in a chemical-free process similar to the production of particleboard.
The finished pallet has a moisture content of less than 9% and is free of any resident pests, insects, molds or fungi. Inca pal lets are I P P C -ISPM 15 compliant for export wooden packaging regulations and are free of chemicals and chemical treatments.
With prices as low as $6.75 US (F.O.B. Ohio or Mississippi), Inca pallets are available in a variety of in-stock standard sizes, including 48” by 40” and Euro pallet sizes, and designs to handle dynamic loads ranging from 1,000 – to – 2,500 lbs.
For more information contact Gary Sharon, Vice President, Litco International at 330-539-5433 x117, [email protected]
or visit www.litco.com
21March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
Organic products producers, who want to be successful, need to educate their customers about the benefits of their products and better train their sales force
in selling techniques … That was the gist of a nearly two hour marketing seminar held as part of the U.S. Composting Council’s 19th annual conference and trade show held recently in Santa Clara, Calif. More than 1,100 composting and organics recycling professionals and 130 exhibitors attended the conference and exhibition.
“There are a lot of competent producers who are frankly very good at producing compost,” s a i d D av i d H i l l , head of CycleLogic E n v i r o n m e n t a l M a r k e t i n g a n d C o n s u l t a t i o n i n Sarasota, Fla. “There are not so many of us who are very good at selling compost, because they’re very different disciplines.”
Hill was one of four speakers at the marketing workshop. Others who spoke were Kathy Kellogg Johnson of Kellogg Garden Products in California, Tom Kelley of Harvest Power in Massachusetts and Ron Alexander of R. Alexander Associates in North Carolina.
Hill’s approach was less about the actual product and more about knowing everything there is to know about the potential customer base. He described it as “customer profiling.”
Knowing the demographics of customers “have very distinct implications in how we promote our product, how we package it, what we say about it and where we’re going with our product,” said Hill, who has more than 25 years experience in composting organic materials and in selling and using compost and compost-amended topsoils.
“I’ve always said ‘start with the end,’” he added. “‘Figure out what your goals are and work backward to get there.’”
Hill’s company works with firms that generate, process, use, purchase or sell recyclable materials. The primary focus, CycleLogic web site notes, is on the economical and ecological benefits inherent with the reuse of organic materials.
Johnson, whose grandfather H. Clay Kellogg started the company in 1925, agreed that “it’s not really about the product.”
Instead, she insisted, successful marketing involves convincing people that compost is essential for their soil.
“If people just understood that the soil beneath their feet was in dire need of fixing and feeding, you know people are going to need your product to feed the soil,” said Johnson, the chief sustainability officer for Kellogg Garden Products headquartered in Carson, Calif.
The best way of imparting that message, she advised, was through word of mouth. One method was for compost company sales
representatives to offer ideas to nurseries and then check back with them about their level of success.
“We fee l i t i s Kellogg’s responsibility to be the wind beneath
the wings of people that are actually selling the product to our customer,” she explained.
Johnson also practices that philosophy through her involvement with Plant with Purpose, which helps educate impoverished and subsistence farmers in third world countries on how restoring their soil can improve their quality of life.
She also recommended to workshop attendees that they market through third-party endorsements and utilize the latest in technology — including web and social media sites such as Facebook, My Space and YouTube, and devices such as iPhones and smart phones — to reach current and potential customers.
“Gen X and Gen Y are where we’re going to have sales for the next 85 years,” she said, adding that when it comes to the newest technology, Gen Xers and Yers are “checking it, living it and they’re on it all the time.”
A key component was to maintain a web site, she said.“We do believe with all this messaging that the way to reach your consumer . . . is your web site,” she said. “They might go out on Twitter. They might go out on Facebook. They might go out and see YouTube. But they need to be able to come back to browse your content on your web site. So go after these other
Continued on page 22
Experts Offer Down to Earth Advice About How to Market Compost
BY P.J. Heller
“Marketing programs are influenced by many factors . . .
However, miss product quality and you miss the key. It’s very, very simple. It’s not rocket science.”
Info Request #106
Pull-Type, PTO Driven, Heavy Duty
compost turner- FOr wiNDrOw -
Manufactured and sold by
Dos Palos, CA 93620 • 209-392-6103www.hclmachineworks.com
email: [email protected]
HAGEMAN EARTH CYCLE
970-221-7173 Roger 970-566-1918
(6) Rylind Light Material BucketsLight Material,
Tilt-OutBuckets,
10 to 12 CY,Good Condition,
Buckets arePinned to Fit
JD 744 &Cat 966 or can
be retrofit toother loaders
$12,900
Light Material, Tilt-Out Buckets, 10 to 12 CY, Good Condition, Buckets are Pinned to Fit,
JD 744 & Cat 966 or can be retrofit to other loaders.
HAGeMAn eARtH cYcLe970-221-7173 Roger 970-566-1918
$10,900
(6) Rylind Light Material Buckets
Info Request #169
ways of getting your content out to people but it all comes back to your web site.”
Kellogg markets more than 400 products to the lawn and garden industry in the western U.S.
Kelley of Harvest Power took a different approach, insisting that the key to marketing success was product quality.
“Marketing programs are influenced by many factors,” he noted. “However, miss product quality and you miss the key. It’s very, very simple. It’s not rocket science.
“If you do not have product quality, you
22 Soil & Mulch Producer News March / April 2011
Soil & Mulch ProducerNEWS
www.ScreenMachine.com
Info Request #164
Experts Offer Down to Earth AdviceContinued from page 21
will not be able to keep your customers,” he said. “You will not retain customers. They will go somewhere else where they can get quality.”
Although Kelley admitted that most manufacturers would agree that they offered a quality compost, he stressed that testing and dissecting the material might result in an even better product.
“We need to raise the bar . . .” he said, adding that the public needed to know how important compost was for soil.
“We need to make the highest quality products so we can be successful and everybody wins,” said Kelley, a 25-year veteran in the organics and horticulture industry, specializing in compost sales and marketing.
“The value of something is that which somebody is willing to pay for,” he said. “They have to understand the value. It has to be conveyed to them, and if they do, they will want to purchase your product.”
Alexander also talked about improvements, but his focus was not on the product but rather on the sales force. Alexander is the author of The Practical Guide to Composting Marketing and Sales.
“Several outstanding publications have been written over the years to assist composters in the production and use of compost, and much research has been completed on these subjects,” he notes in his book. “However, little truly practical information has been available
pertaining to compost marketing, especially as it pertains to actual sales . . . approaching specific market segments and training new sales staff.
“It is important for anyone managing compost sales staff to understand that to be successful over the long-term, there is ‘a lot to learn and master,’” he says in describing his book. “A technically competent sales person must possess knowledge in diverse subject manner, as well as skill in the area of sales.”
He stressed that approach in his talk at the compost council session, keying in on the importance of being able to deal with customers.
“It’s all about people,” said Alexander, who has more than 25 years experience in the compost, biosolids and organic recycled product industry. “If you’re going to do a sales call, you have to be mentally and physically prepared.”
He also stressed the importance of the sale force getting to know their buyers, nurturing and empathizing with them and showing them that they care. The sales force also needs to study and learn about the technical aspects of using the product to help buyers address their problems, he added.
“Learning to deal with common objections is one of the most important skills a compost sales person must master,” he notes in his book. “Unfortunately, many sales people also see it as the most intimidating aspect of sales. Some of the common objections deal with why a prospect should use compost as a replacement for what they are currently using, whether it is a different producer’s compost or another soil amendment. In this scenario, it is imperative for compost salespeople to understand both their own product and their competitors so they can point out the differences.”
“There’s going to be a wall,” he explained to conference attendees. “You say something stupid and the wall gets bigger. The mind-set is be a Marine. You’re going over it, around it, through it. You have to break down the wall. If you’re good at understanding the technical benefits and understanding how those benefits relate to them, to the end user and their money and their success, you get over that wall.
“The goal,” he added, “is to work with the end user, psychologically, and bond with them. We want them to love us and trust us. We want to demonstrate competence in all things.
“Come in on the white pony. Tell them how you’re going to save them . . . Remove their pain,” he advised. And, he added, “Never stop trying to improve.”
For more information about Johnson, visit the Kellogg Garden products web site at www.kellogggarden.com. Information about Hill and CycleLogic is available at www.mycyclelogic.com. Details about Harvest Power can be found at www.harvestpower.com. More about R. Alexander Associates and the book The Practical Guide to Composting Marketing and Sales is available at www.alexassoc.net.
23March / April 2011 Soil & Mulch Producer News
Info Request #141
Wildcat trommel screens and compost turners can help you produce a consistent end product.For nearly 40 years, Wildcat Manufacturing has been helping operators exceed their wildest expectations. Our products are powerful, productive, and backed by an industry-leading dealer network committed to your satisfaction.
From trommel screens to compost turners, we design and build equipment you can count on day after day. It’s easy to operate, easy to service, and the easy choice when you need high performance and consistent end product.
Call your nearest dealer or visit www.vermeer.com today!
The WILDCAT LOGO is a trademark of Wildcat Mfg. Co, Inc. VERMEER is a trademark of Vermeer Manufacturing Company in the United States and / or other countries.
© 2011 Vermeer Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
WE’RE WILDLY CONSISTENT.
InsIDe ThIs IssueMulch Manufacturers See
Bright Colorful FuturePAGE 1
Research Identifies Eight Issues for Soil Health and a Four-way Strategy to Achieve it
PAGE 7
Study: Mixed Results Seen in Switch to Organic Farming
PAGE 11
Scientists: Plants Manage to Adapt, Thrive in Soil Contaminated with Radiation
PAGE 18
Experts Offer Down to Earth Advice About How to Market Compost
PAGE 21
PRSRT STDU.S. Postage
PAIDMentor, OH
PErMIT No. 2
6075 Hopkins Road • Mentor, OH 44060
Ph: 440-257-6453 • Fax: 440-257-6459Email: [email protected]
VoL. V No. 2 MAR / APR 2011
Info Request #130
REMUREMU USA Inc.
Toll Free: 1-888-600-0018email: [email protected]
www.remu.fi
REMU screening buckets and plants• Screen without crushing (no sharp particles in the screened material)• Particle size starts from 5/8” minus (0-15 mm)• Models for nearly every size and type of base unit• Bucket volumes form 0,1 to 8 cupic yards• Lowest fuel and maintain costs
When materialgets moistand sticky
you know thedifference.