A standard hay baler can compress plastic used for growing vegetables into a 4-feet by 5-feet ball, saving growers money in labor and disposal costs.
Ron Goldy, Michigan State University Southwest district vegetable agent, piqued the interest of growers after he showed them baling techniques at six different farms in Southwest Michigan including a demonstration on Sept, 20.
When it comes time to discard the plastic, vegetable growers who use plastic face disposal costs of $300-$350 per large construction bin. Goldy said 270 pounds of plastic are used per acre. With 3,000 acres of plastic used in Michigan that’s 810,000 pounds of plastic. Typically a grower piles up the plastic and loads it onto a construction bin before it is taken to a landfill. With the baler growers can compress four to five acres of plastic into a bale that they can lift with a forklift.
