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Recycling in agriculture – ‘a story of innovation’ featured in Globe & Mail’s Next-Generation Farming Report

Canadian farmers have a proud heritage of producing food for the world. For this work, they rely on many plastic-based specialty products, for example, for storing grain; collecting, protecting and fermenting hay; keeping moisture in and weeds out of soil as well as handling sap from maple trees.

Dealing with the waste that such agricultural practices create – wrapping materials, twine, special films, containers, tubing and more – has become an ever-expanding effort by the producers and distributers of these items. Through Cleanfarms, a non-profit environmental stewardship organization, they offer recycling and recovery solutions, in collaboration with partner agencies, that keep these crop input and storage tools out of landfill.

“We’re like the blue box for agriculture,” says Barry Friesen, executive director of Cleanfarms, based in Etobicoke, with operations across Canada. As a “producer responsibility organization,” it oversees the recycling of agricultural plastics and rounds up obsolete chemicals and animal medications for safe disposal.

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A chain harrow is a game changer

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.