Vermont tries to recycle all that plastic used on farms

I’ve often wonders what happens to all that white plastic used to wrap round bales of hay – which can weigh up to a ton – stored in fields for winter sileage.

Vermont is trying to recycle it, which is easier said than done, as the Valley New reports in this story.

Many beef and dairy farmers wrap up the hay they feed their cows. The plastic helps the feed ferment and turn into silage — which makes for a more digestible feed. During the winter season, when cows can’t graze, farmers provide their herd feed from bales. That creates a lot of plastic and with that a lot of waste. “No one likes throwing stuff away, especially farmers,”

I faced this issue on a much smaller scale: I sometimes buy compressed wood shavings as bedding for the sheep that a neighboring farm rotates through my barn (mostly lambs when they’re being weaned). They’re wrapped in brown paper, which I compost – until one day they were wrapped in plastic. Ugh.

I’ve since found a paper-wrapped alternative but who knows how long it will last? Plastic is probably better from the producers’ point of view since it keeps out moisture.