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November 20, 2006
EcoCover
News
Biodegradable Paper Mulch
Mat Made from Waste Paper
Greetings,
EcoCover news that
should interest you.
EcoCover
EcoCrop
TM
Earns Organic Certification
 EcoCover's Auckland
plant manager, Mr. Phil Dunn, announced last week
that EcoCrop, our lighter weight paper mulch mat
intended for annual row crops and short-lived
mulching applications, was awarded Bio-Grow approval
as an Organically Permitted Product in New Zealand,
Bio-Grow Certificate Number 4880. This is a major
step forward, as the glue used to manufacture
EcoCrop at the rate of 25 square meters (267 square
feet) per minute is a significantly different
formulation than standard EcoCover Mulch Mats.
EcoCrop is ideally
suited for annual vegetable row crops, melons,
berries, etc. and if you are a Certified Organic
grower, you can till EcoCrop into the soil at the
end of the growing season - no waste, nothing to
take up or throw away. EcoCrop is price competitive
with better grades of plastic mulch and is now
Organically Certified.
EcoPin New Zealand Trial
Completed - Production Die Ordered
The field trial in
New Zealand using several hundred thousand
EcoPins is successfully completed, minor design
changes have been implemented based on what we
have learned, and the production die to produce
EcoPins in quantity is expected to be completed
before Christmas. EcoPin is our organically
certifiable biodegradable landscape pin and
temporary survey marker. Read more at
www.ecopinusa.com.
EcoPins should be
available in the USA in small quantities toward
the end of January and in volume toward the end
of February 2007. We will be announcing prices
as soon as the rate of production is confirmed.
EcoCover
Specified for ODOT Projects
Good news about
environmentally beneficial products travels fast in
the right circles, and perhaps even faster in the
greenest of green states like Oregon, where
implementing environmentally savvy ideas is the rule
rather than the exception. EcoCover has been
specified for new tree plantings for two Oregon
Department of Transportation projects coming up in
2007, and even though we do not yet have EcoCover
domestic production in the USA, we have quoted the
projects at competitive prices in order to meet the
demand.
If you have an
opportunity to quote an important project, we would
like to talk with you about your requirements.
How High Is
High Enough?
We have had a number
of questions regarding the dimensions of the
EcoCover manufacturing machinery and how tall does
the building ceiling need to be to accommodate the
equipment. The definitive answer is a ceiling
height of 6.2 meters or 22 feet 4 inches is high
enough. The rest of the answer is that this
dimension can be trimmed slightly to fit any
existing building, if required. Give us the details
and we will get you the answer.
Canadian Patent Issued
Some things happen
faster than others? The EcoCover Mulch Mat patent
application which has been pending in Canada for
several years has been approved. The Canadian
Patent Number is 2235849. For
prospective plant owners in Canada and elsewhere,
Canadian patent protection is now assured.
Cost of Hand Weeding
During the EvoCover
tomato and green pepper trial conducted at Massey
University where EcoCover produced 29.4% higher
yields on tomatoes and 42.3% higher yields on green
peppers, plants grown in bare soil were used as the
control. During this intensive period of the summer
growing season in New Zealand between December 2005
- March 2006 [4 months], Massey University
researchers kept a log book as to the time taken to
hand weed the bare soil control for two organically
grown crops, namely: Capsicum or sweet pepper cv.
Zola F1, and Tomatoes cv. Scorsby Dwarf.
Hand weeding the
unmulched beds at monthly intervals [four hand
weedings during this trial period] to ensure good
organic practice and maximize the crop yield for
both the capsicums and tomatoes amounted to
approximately 30 minutes per square meter or 3
minutes per square foot. This was averaged over 2
crops, and for the tomatoes the time required was
slightly less due to the greater competitiveness of
the plants.
Organic growers can
now directly compare the cost of using EcoCover
against their true cost of hand weeding [time versus
local labor cost] and the added difficulty many
growers are having in finding suitable labor for
this task. At an example wage of $7 per hour, the
cost of hand weeding is 35 cents per square foot
versus less than 6 cents per square foot for
EcoCover EcoCrop.
Condolences
Our
best wishes go to EcoCover managing director Murray
Cruickshank and family on the passing of Murray's
father, David Cruickshank, who died peacefully in
his sleep yesterday in Auckland. Please remember
Murray, David and family in your thoughts and
prayers.
EcoCover
Business Opportunity
The EcoCover business
opportunity is to purchase the manufacturing
machinery to make EcoCover's unique and patented
products where you are. This is a worldwide
opportunity. Read more at
www.roncastle.com/ecocover/ EcoCover is moving
ever forward and the opportunities for our products
are all huge and essential markets. If you are
looking for a sustainable business opportunity that
is profitable, please contact me to discuss the
details.
The future is
EcoCover.
Cheers,
Ron Castle
EcoCover Business Development
EcoCover Developments Ltd. NZ
Phone 931.962.8665
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