2020 Could Be A Record Year For Cleanfarms

Dec 24, 2020

Cleanfarms marked it's 10th anniversary in 2020 as farmers continue to focus on recycling.

Over the years the organization has gone from operating two recycling programs to collect empty pesticide and obsolete pesticide jugs, to operating five permanent programs.

In addition, they have been operating pilot programs in Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta to point the way to recover more ag plastic waste for products like used twine, grain bags and silage wrap.

For 2020 they are optimistic that farmers may have set a new record for returning small pesticide and fertilizer containers for recycling.

Final results will be calculated in the new year but stats show that in 2019, farmers brought back nearly 5.5 million containers

Executive Director Barry Friesen notes grain bag recycling across the Prairies also had a stellar year.

Cleanfarms runs the grain bag recycling program in Saskatchewan.

In 2019, Saskatchewan farmers recycled 2,256 tonnes of used plastic grain bags, a 44 per cent increase in volume over 2018. So far in 2020, SK farmers have recycled just over 2,700 tonnes, a 20% increase over last year.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.