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 …
By Ken McEntee For almost 40 years, Hardwood Mulch Corp., located about 35 miles southeast of Richmond, Va., hauled loads of wood mulch to a loyal customer in Maryland. That ended this year because of new interstate trucking regulations that mandate the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) to monitor a driver’s hours of service, said Garland Anderson, owner of …
By P.J. Heller Substituting various amounts of biochar for peat moss in greenhouse and nursery growing applications – including the total elimination of peat from the potting substrate and replacing it with biochar – resulted in similar plant growth, according to a recent study. “Biochar is a promising substitute for peat . . .” researchers reported. The study, conducted at …
By Gail Barnes Soil is more than brown dirt. It is a living breathing system, and like any living system can become unhealthy and susceptible to pests and disease. That’s where beneficial bacteria – or good bugs known as probiotics – come in. They restore balance in the soil, and in doing so, can enhance plant and soil health. We …
By Ken McEntee In theory, expanding a mulch producing operation into compost production sounds like an ideal way to add an additional revenue stream. Unfortunately, say some people in the mulch business, the complications of permitting and the expense of purchasing composting equipment often can make compost production more trouble than it’s worth. Others, however, say that restricting feedstock to …
By P.J. Heller Massive amounts of wood waste generated by Hurricane Irma in Florida — from trees and branches to damaged or destroyed homes, buildings and other structures — is continuing to make its way to landfills and waste-to-energy plants throughout the Sunshine State months after the storm ravaged much of southwest Florida. Only a small amount of the felled …
