News, Notes & Quotes

Mulch & Soil Council • 7809 FM 179 • Shallowater, TX 79363 • 806.832.1810 • Fax: 806.832.5244 • info@mulchandsoilcouncil.org

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National Newsletter of the Mulch & Soil Council November 2015

Following the Orlando annual meeting, all participants were sent an evaluation form to rate how well each program was received by members.

The responses are reported in the next article as “Member Ratings” indicating what percentage of members ranked each presentation as either excellent (Ex), very good (VG), good (G), fair or poor. The purpose of this rating is to help members who were not present understand how well a presentation was received by those who were present. This rating may help members determine which of the presenta-tion recordings posted on our website they might want to download and review.

Audio recordings and copies of speaker presentations are now available FREE to MSC members in the Members Only area of the website http://www.mulchandsoilcouncil.org/membership/presentations_15.php. Non-members who registered for the Orlando meeting may also access the session recordings for FREE as a benefit of attending the meeting. For special non-member access, please contact the MSC office at 806.832.1810 or meetings@mulchandsoilcouncil.org for a special access code.

THANK YOU to all our members who participated in the 2nd largest meeting of the Council’s history.

A total of 143 participants met in Orlando for the 44th MSC Annual Meeting October 20-22 at the Doubletree Hotel. Pre-meeting committee sessions engaged in lively discussions on certification and industry stan-dards that resulted in reassignment of research activi-ties and creation of several new committees to investigate new projects. Committee actions are reported elsewhere in this issue.

Council President Scott Salmon (Oldcastle) welcomed the participants and Program Chair Jim McKinley (Lebanon Seaboard) outlined the program for the event. Our first speaker was David Crow who reviewed the status of the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. (WO-

Meeting Presentations

Available Online

2015 Annual Meeting Report

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TUS) regulations and their potentially disruptive impact on the Mulch & Soil Industry. The regula-tions have been temporarily stalled as a result of multiple legal challenges, the outcome of which will determine how manufacturers will be al-lowed to conduct business for the foreseeable future. David then reviewed the political climate for the 2016 presidential elections with notes on key issues to watch as the campaigns maneuver for position over the next year. (Member Rating: Excellent: 52% / Very Good: 31% / G: 14%)

Julie Rice of Clemson University spoke about the packaging design and research being con-ducted on consumer products and the results of impromptu eye-tracking research using con-sumers shopping for mulch and soil products at a mass merchant. How consumers perceive products can be directly determined by how their attention is drawn to and through package presentation. Although data on our product lines is extremely limited, Julie’s presentation opened the door to the need for additional understand-ing of consumer response, especially for different demographic groups. (Member Rating: Ex: 17% / VG: 41% / G: 21%)

The last program for the day was the MSC Annual Membership Meeting that included committee updates, project progress reports, adoption of the revised industry standards and a special presentation by MSC Legal Counsel John Hazard on the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) that will take effect in 2016. (Member Rating: Ex: 11% / VG: 56% / G: 26%)

The business meeting was followed by the annual Affiliate & Associate Reception that was generously sponsored by the TH Glennon Com-pany this year. A record number of 21 supplier exhibits were available for members to meet new companies, discuss new products and services and network with other mulch and soil produc-ers. (Member Rating: Ex: 43% / VG: 50% / G: 7%)

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2015 Annual Meeting Report

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THANK YOU To Sponsors

Platinum: Gold

Silver

2015 Annual Meeting Sponsors

For a complete list of sponsor contacts, visit the MSC website at:

http://www.mulchandsoilcouncil.org/meetings/sponsors_15.php

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Our Thursday morning program started with a presen-tation by Rob Henry and George Trudell of Ultra Consul-tants on choosing the right software for your business. With the variety of options available to companies, George gave the steps to follow in determining the best fit for your op-erations and objectives before contacting vendors to discuss programs and implementation. A decent effort to define your needs up front can save a fortune in mistakes down the road. (Member Rating: Ex: 10% / VG: 35% / G: 40%)

Looking at new raw materials options for the industry, we heard Jeff Anderson of Mycorrhizal Applications present an outstanding overview of the role, benefits and limitations of mycorrhizae in product performance and innovation for mulch and soil products. This presentation covered the sci-ence behind mycorrhizal fungi, delivery forms, germination requirements, stability in distribution channels, State regis-trations requirements, specific claims that can be made, shelf life and storage requirements and cost vs better fer-tilizer utilization and plant nutrition. (Member Rating: Ex: 5% / VG: 37% / G: 47%)

Our final topic for the morning was a great presentation by Paul Short, President of the Canadian Spaghnum Peat Moss Association, on the sustainability programs and future source supply of peat moss. Paul shared harvest data, a new copy of the industry’s sustainablity and impact study and reviewed legislative and regulatory proposals that can impact product supplies for years to come. (Member Rating: E: 8% / VG: 46% / G: 42%)

Our luncheon keynote speaker was Dr. Alan Beaulieu, President of ITR Economics, who topped the member rating chart with an astounding rating of Excellent: 79% and Very Good: 21%. Dr. Beaulieu’s presentation is available to hear from the MSC web-site, but a few take-away points would include: (1) Consumer spending and confidence is driving a very healthy economic market in the U.S. and Europe; (2) The media tends to choose some of the least reli-able economic indicators; so, be careful of what you hear and look in the right places for better data; (3) Labor costs are most likely going to be a very significant economic problem to our industry in the future; and (4) There will likely be a major depression in 2030, but there are a number of ways to protect your wealth and families, now, from what is coming in the future. Our Keynote speaker was made possible by a spe-cial donation by BASF/Colorbiotics.

Afternoon sessions included a presentation on managing growing media by Dr. Paul Fisher of the Uni-versity of Florida. Dr. Fisher reported on research into growing media sub-strates and how to maintain product integrity over time from materials

2015 Annual Meeting Report

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input through storage and utilization. (Member Rating: Ex: 16% / VG: 32% / G: 28%)

Our final education program looked at social media op-portunities presented by Jesse Till of Chatter Buzz Media. Jesse reviewed each of the social media channels (FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.) and how they can be used to promote your company image and product lines to reach both general and targeted customer markets. (Member Rat-ing: Ex: 16% / VG: 26% / G: 37%).

The 44th MSC Annual Meeting ended with the President’s Reception on Thursday evening that was generously spon-sored by AgriCoatings. We spent the evening reflecting on the information presented throughout the annual meeting program and networking with associates for the final time before heading home to implement what we had learned.

The Board and Staff of MSC wish to extend a special vote of appreciation to Program Chair Jim McKinley for his outstanding job organizing and conducting the 44th Annual Meeting of the Mulch & Soil Council. On behalf of all members, we thank all our program sponsors who so generously provided program support for the 44th MSC Annual Meeting.

As these things often do, it took the better part of a year to draft, review and ap-prove modifications to the MSC Uniform Voluntary Guidelines for Mulches,

Horticultural Growing Media and Landscape Soils and Soil Amendments (UVPG). The process began in January with proposals submitted to the MSC Standards Committee. In April, the committee presented proposed amendments to the Board of Directors. In May, the Board approved distribution of the proposed amendments to the membership for comments and suggestions. Following members’ comments, the redrafted UVPG was distributed to more than 100 industry stakeholders for their review and comments in June and July. The final step in the standards amendment process was approval by the MSC membership. A vote conducted at the 44th Annual Meeting gave unanimous approval and the revised amendments were officially adopted. A copy of thereviesed UVPG is posted on the website at http://www.mulchandsoilcouncil.org/certification/stan-dards.php.

Each year, the election terms of 4 members of the MSC Board of Directors expire requiring the membership to elect, or re-elect, directors to those seats. This year, the

MSC Nominations Committee proposed 5 candidates for the 4 director seats available. An election was held at the Annual General Membership Meeting where a quorum of the members were present to vote. We are pleased to report that the following MSC Directors were re-elected to the Board for terms running 2015-2018: • Brian Faircloth, Suwannee Lumber Co., Cross City, FL • Michael Lange, Black Gold Compost Co., Oxford, FL • Chris Littlefield, Kellogg Garden Products, Carson, CA • Jim McKinley, Lebanon Seaboard Corp., Zirconia, NCCongratulations to our newly elected Board members. To see a full list of the MSC Board of Directors, visit our website at: http://www.mulchandsoilcouncil.org/about/direc-tors.php.

On October 21, the MSC Board of Directors reviewed the activities and usefulness of the MSC State Legislative and Regulatory Monitoring Program the Council

initiated this past May. The MSC staff has been identifying, annotating and reporting state legislative proposals in order to provide members an early warning system for potential laws and/or regulations that might help or harm their businesses. To date,

2015 Annual Meeting Report

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Members Adopt Revised Standards

Board Elections

Legislative Program

Extended

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the program has received great support from the membership and the Board of Di-rectors authorized the program to continue through April 2016. At that time, we will re-evaluate the cost and benefit of the program to the members and determine if the program should continue beyond that point.

The legislative/regulatory monitoring program operates by database searches conducted on over 80 key words regarding topics of interest to the industry. A list of keywords is available to the members on the MSC website at http://www.mulchandsoil-council.org/pdfs/legis-reg-keywords.pdf. If any member identifies a new keyword they would like to have included in the weekly legislative or regulatory searches, please contact the MSC office to help us expand the usefulness of this important, early-warn-ing program.

On the heels of a very successful annual meeting in Orlando this year, the MSC Board of Directors has authorized the Council staff to complete booking for the

2016 annual meeting for October 4-7 at The Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Mark your calendar for the dates. More information will be available in January.

Committees are the life-blood of most associations and MSC is no different. Small working groups are key to developing the program details the Board of Direc-

tors assigns based on their overview of what the Council and industry needs. MSC is unique in that we have long maintained a completely open Board and committee meeting structure. Any member is invited to participate in any committee meeting and sit-in on Board of Directors’ meetings. WE HAVE NO CLOSED DOORS in MSC, and we have been blessed with many active members willing to share their expertise to help committees get their jobs done for the best interests of all members.

Active committees also means an active organization. Committees push work projects to completion and that means we are doing something. At the Orlando annual meeting, current committee actions and new Board of Director initiatives expanded

Legislative Program

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NOLA Chosen for 2016

Annual Meeting

UPDATE on Committees

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our committees from 2-3 to 10. We now have more programs and more activity going forward than ever, and we are looking for more members who want to provide input; so, here is an update on existing and new committees and activities.

1. Certification Committee: The charge of the Certification Committee is to oversee the operations of the Council’s voluntary product certification program including testing procedures, product inspection activities and coordination with the Council’s Standards Committee. The Certification Committee does NOT set standards, but may challenge a standard if it no longer supports the needs or capabilities of products in the market.

2. Honors Committee: This is a new committee charged with developing and imple-menting a system for recognizing members and non-members who have made sig-nificant contributions to the Council and/or the industry. Its first charge is to develop criteria for the award of a new John Leber Award for Distinguished Service and to recom-mend awards and honors candidates for approval by the MSC Board of Directors.

3. Workers’ Comp Insurance Committee: This is another new committee charged with investigating the standardization of workers comp classifications for mulch and soil producing companies. No uniform classification currently exists which subjects members to classification as high-risk, high-cost categories for lack of better, more accurate information and rating experience. The goal is either to change the NCCI classification system to recognize mulch and soil producers as an industry or create an alternative insurance coverage vehicle that better serves the risk associated with mulch or soil production.

4A. Standards Committee: The Standards Committee is the overall working group that investigates and defines industry-accepted standards and/or Best Management Practices (BMPs) supporting an open, competitive and equitable marketplace and a level playing field

4B. Mulch Blending Subcommittee: This is a special subcommittee of the Standards Committee charged with investigating, documenting, and develop-ing fair, equitable definitions and scientifically accurate and repeatable test protocols aimed at manufacturing practices and verification of product blend-ing claims in order to promote a level playing field for mulch products.

4C. Carbon Black Subcommittee: This is a new Standards subcommittee charged with investigating claims of potential health risks and a response to that claim, as necessary, relating to the use of powdered carbon black to color-ize mulch.

4D. Weights & Measures HB 133 Editorial: This is a Standards subcommittee charged with promoting more uniform testing procedures between industry and regulators by identifying and clarifying aspects of the NIST HB 133 test protocols that allow for variations in test practices that create inconsistant test results and inequities in the marketplace.

5. Lot Coding BMP Committee: This committee is new and its charged with explor-ing the needs, benefits, opportunities, option and processes that form recommended best management practices for product production lot coding in the industry.

6. Nominating Committee: The charge to the Nominating Committee is to present a nominations slate of candidates for election to the MSC Board of Directors in accor-dance with the policies, procedures and bylaws of the Council.

UPDATE on Committees

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7. 2016 Annual Meeting Program Committee: The charge of the Annual Meeting Program Committee is to investigate issues of importance to member companies and the industry and develop a recommended annual meeting program that, after it is reviewed and approved by the MSC Board of Directors, is then implemented.

If you have an interest in the work of any MSC committee and are willing to share your time and expertise to help impact the organization and industry, please send an email to info@mulchandsoilcouncil.org and tell us what committee you would like to join.

Following the Council annual meeting in Orlando, MSC traveled to Biloxi, MS, to present the joint proposal of the MSC and NIST to make editorial changes for im-

proved uniform testing of package volume contents between industry and states. For the past year, the Council has traveled to all 4 weights and measures conferences in order to get at least 1 region’s required vote to move the issue forward on the agenda of the National Conference on Weights & Measures (NCWM) interim meeting agenda in January 2016. We are please to report that both the western and southern regional weights and measures associations have voted the Council proposal forward for January.

The next step is to present and defend the proposal to the NCWM National Com-mittee on Laws and Regulations in San Diego on January 10-13, 2016. A favorable vote at that meeting will move the proposal to a final vote in July at the NCWM Annual Meeting in Denver. A positive final vote will then incorporate the editorial changes into NIST Handbook 133

Until this very important project is finalized, the industry will remain subject to individual state interpretations of the existing Handbook 133 procedures that can have significantly variable and unfavorable results. The Council anticipates a significant level of volume fill testing for this coming season and advises members to be very diligent in their quality control of package volume fill with a recommended 5%-8% over-fill to avoid variables in the current test procedure.

On November 19, ITR Economics reported: The rising trends in the US housing in-dustry, October improvement in the S&P 500, and the solidly positive trend in US

Retail Sales are going a long way to compensate for the ongoing weakness in segments of the industrial economy related to the oil patch and steel. The service sector is motor-ing right along and the light duty vehicle outlook is bright.

Conditions could certainly be a lot worse. We could be like China and experienc-ing the negative leading indicator trends, overt construction recession, and lack of economic pulse in key manufacturing segments. Japan’s is turning up into a recovery trend as we speak without China. The world is actually in a pretty good place right now if you back out China and Brazil and Russia. So much for the three of the four vaunted BRIC economies of yesteryear. https://itreconomics.com/blog/big-four-economies-not-so-fast.

Biomass Magazine reported that the recent Wood Pellet Association of Canada conference held a debate on the future of energy subsidies and their impact on the

market. Deborah Keedy, head of procurement with Drax Group plc, shared her per-spective from the U.K. on the continuation of federal incentives for biomass. She said that in regards to contracts for differences (CfD), where the U.K. is today looks like a cliff edge. “I think the government is going to reflect on what they are going to do to meet their renewable targets,” Keedy said. “Today, it is all about cost, they are work-ing out what they need to do to prevent an over spend.”

Vaughan Bassett, vice president of sales and logistics with Pinnacle, shared his thoughts from a producer point of view. “I think this is a big concern,” he said. “We get to a cliff edge at the end of 2027 and there is a whole bunch of uncertainty of how

UPDATE on Committees

(Cont’d)

W&M Update

ITR Economics Outlook

UK Pellet Subsdies

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biomass subsidies will be thereafter.” Bassett adds that he believes somewhere in the U.K. legislation’s thinking was the idea that funding could be provided for awhile as a means to narrow the fuel price gap. “As we look at our industry now, the coal price is going to have to come up a lot for that to happen,” Bassett said. “I don’t think we as pellet manufacturers have the resources, energy inputs, cost inputs to get the price of pellets down.” Going forward, Bassett believes the industry needs to reflect on what can be done to trim back costs, so that “we can hopefully provide a fuel source that stands on its own two feet and doesn’t require subsidies, but it’s going to be a tough burden.”

MSC is pleased to welcome the following new Affiliate Member company

Horticultural Alliance Elaine & James Quinn1550 66th Ave. Dr. EastSarasota, FL 34243(T) 941.539.0390(F) 888.386.4478elaineq@horticulturalalliance.comwww.horticulturalalliance.com

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UK Pellet Subsdies(Cont’d)

New MemberWelcome

CertifiedProduct News

11© Mulch & Soil Council, 2005 11

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CertifiedProduct News

(Cont’d)