By Ken McEntee Workplace injury reports from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can serve as gruesome reminders about how dangerous grinders and other mulching facility equipment can be when proper safety precautions aren’t utilized. In March 2018, an employee at a Missouri lumber company was killed while operating a hog grinder used to make mulch out of lumber …
By P.J. Heller Mulch may be the not so secret ingredient when it comes to successful landscaping and plant growth. For nearly 100 years, the benefits of mulch for various applications, such as agriculture and landscaping, have been studied and recognized. While there are numerous types of mulch — including wood chips, stones, straw, cardboard and other paper-based trash, plastic …
By Robert C. LaGasse, Executive Director Most trade associations get started when a group of industry people band together to fight a common problem like unfair laws or regulations or even unethical and anti-competitive trade practices. Working together to solve a common business interest may take months or years, but when the problem is solved— then what? Without a new …
By P.J. Heller Mulch that is . . . more than a few inches, can build up heat and spontaneously catch fire. State Fire Marshal of Massachusetts Mulch used in spring landscaping projects can ignite from spontaneous combustion. AccuWeather Spontaneous combustion of mulch is possible. WXIA-TV … Experts say the right recipe of heat, decomposition and a little bit of …
By Ken McEntee Canadian peat production during the 2018 harvesting season generally met producers’ expectations, with some regions exceeding expectations and others falling slightly short of expectations, according to the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA), whose members represent 92 percent of North America’s production. “The season wasn’t exceptional but it wasn’t a disaster by any means,” said CSPMA President …
By Kathleen Marquardt California is in the middle of yet another record-breaking fire season with 820,000 acres across the state already burned — more than twice the area that burned by this point last year. NY Times The Mendocino Complex Fire burned more than 290,600 acres (nearly 454 square miles) as of Tuesday morning. It is the largest wildfire in …
By Kathleen Marquardt Tom DeWeese, President of American Policy Center (APC), once wrote that there are thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with the UN to subvert property rights. Of course, they don’t just announce that property rights are now null and void, because that would create a stir. Instead, they use language that sounds innocent and helpful to our …
By P.J. HELLER Matt Smith wonders what he would be doing today if his company wasn’t selling colored mulch. “I’d probably not still be in the mulch business,” says Smith, chief executive officer of Smith Creek, Inc., in Borden, IN. Smith Creek got into the wholesale colored mulch business in the late 1990s and today its bagged colored mulch outsells …
By P.J. Heller Matt Smith wonders what he would be doing today if his company wasn’t selling colored mulch. “I’d probably not still be in the mulch business,” says Smith, chief executive officer of Smith Creek, Inc., in Borden, IN. Smith Creek got into the wholesale colored mulch business in the late 1990s and today its bagged colored mulch outsells …
By Robert LaGasse, Executive Director Capitol Hill Visit While Hours of Service (HOS) regulations have been an issue in recent years, the introduction of Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulations last December has caused a major fire storm in the trucking industry. Under the new ELD regulations, the HOS were reduced from 14 hours in service and a maximum of 11 …
