Inland Tarp & Liner

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• 07.01.2010 - July Newsletter
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• 05.01.2010 - May Newsletter
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• 03.01.2010 - March Newsletter
• 02.01.2010 - February Newsletter
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• 12.01.2009 - December Newsletter

Press Releases

• 2008.10.14 - Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc. Expands Sales Staff
• 2008.08.12 - Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc. Hits a Milestone
• 2007.10.21 - Large Sized Containment Liners a Hot Item
• 2007.04.30 - ITC Celebrates No Time Loss Accidents for 1000 Days!
• 2001.01.01 - Light-Colored Tarps Protect Hay Better
• 1998.03.01 - Tarps Put A Lid On Hay Losses

• Author: Kimberly Paulson
  Date: 2008.10.14
  

  Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc. Expands Sales Staff

  Inland Tarp & Liner is pleased to introduce Joe Alfaro as our new inside customer service representative. Joe first came to the Moses Lake area in 1972 and is very familiar with the needs of the local farmer. Joe spent several years in the customer service position taking care of central California agricultural customers and has been back in the Moses Lake area since 1999. As Inland Tarp & Liner continues to grow Joe will help bring the next level of customer service to you, the customer. This change will enable Brad Clouter time to transition from inside sales to outside sales. Brad will concentrate his efforts on making in-person sales calls to existing customers and bring on new customers in WA, ID, and OR. Brad has 13+ years experience at Inland Tarp & Liner and has extensive knowledge and experience with industrial liners, truck tarps, hay tarps, grain pile covers, and other custom projects. Joe and/or Brad can be reached at 1-800-HAY-TARP or visit us at our web site www.inlandtarp.com.

• Author: Kimberly Paulson
  Date: 2008.08.12
  

  Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc. Hits a Milestone

  Moses Lake based Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc, (ITC) recently completed four years with no on-the-job time-loss accidents.

  "I believe our success in preventing time-loss accidents can be attributed to regular and consistent safety training and making employees aware that management is concerned about safety. For example, the first thing employees see when driving into the headquarters parking lot is a sign telling them how many days it has been since the last time-loss accident. No one wants to make that sign read zero." said Darrel Copeland, Director Human Resources/Safety.

  Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc., and ITC Services, Inc. provide jobs for approximately 150 people in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. For more information about ITC’s products or job opportunities visit www.inlandtarp.com. Inland Tarp products are sold worldwide. ITC has dealers throughout the continental US, and in Australia, Canada and Europe.

• Author: Glen Knopp
  Date: 2007.10.21
  

  Large Sized Containment Liners a Hot Item

  ITC Manufacturing is proud to announce it recently produced its largest liner from a 24mil PE woven coated fabric. The liner tipped the scale at 8,000 pounds and shipped as part of a flatbed truckload to another state for installation by a professional installation team. ITCM Production Manager Nick Holland says, "we are producing liners up to 100,000 sq feet in size. These large size panels allow installation crews to complete a project with less field welding and in some cases a couple less days on the job site, adding hundreds of dollars to the bottom line."

• Author: Glen Knopp
  Date: 2007.04.30
  

  ITC Celebrates No Time Loss Accidents for 1000 Days!

  Inland Tarp & Liner of Moses Lake passed a huge milestone on Monday, April 30, 2007. In honor of "1000 Days With No Time Loss Accidents," Glen Knopp, owner of Inland Tarp & Liner, gave a short speech thanking the employees for their diligence and constant awareness to safety issues, followed by an Employee Appreciation Luncheon catered by Michael's on the Lake. Holly Gettman and Jerry Haggerston of the Department of Labor and Industries presented Mr. Knopp and his employees with a plaque commemorating the cooperation and efforts of both management and employees in effectively eliminating on-the-job time-loss injuries.

• Author: Glen Knopp
  Date: 2001.01.01
  

  Light-Colored Tarps Protect Hay Better

  James Ritchie

  Hay & Forage Grower, Jan 1, 2001

  White keeps hay coolest, company study shows. Henry Ford used to say of his Model T that customers could have any color they wanted, as long as it was black.

  For years, that was pretty much the case with hay tarps: black was basic. And dark-skinned covers protected hay from rain very well. But hay directly beneath black tarps was being "super-dried" to virtually zero moisture content.

  "Until about 15 years ago, we used black hay tarps," says Glenn Knopp, president of Inland Tarp & Liner at Moses Lake, WA, a major manufacturer of hay covers.

  "Then I noticed that the top bales in a tarp-covered stack were consistently lighter weight. We had a stack of 100-lb bales - stacked nine high - and bales in the top two layers weighed 15 lbs less when we loaded out, compared with when the bales went into the stack.

  "Even if all the moisture was being dried out of the hay, bales shouldn't be losing that much weight," Knopp adds. "Something else was happening to the hay."

  As Knopp studied the problem, he found that the heat was actually breaking down the chemical composition of the hay. Heat absorbed by black tarps and transmitted to the hay beneath was literally cooking the nutrients out of the forage.

  "So we converted to a metallic-silver tarp, and that helped the situation considerably," he says. "But heat was still affecting hay quality."

  Hay grower Bill Miller was noticing some differences, too.

  "I didn't make any formal comparisons of different-colored tarps, but I have noticed that condensation is worse on the hay side of dark tarps," says Miller, of Sage, AR.

  He speculates that the condensate is being drawn from the hay underneath.

  Knopp made a side-by-side comparison of three tarps in California's Imperial Valley on a sunny day when the air temperature was 85. He placed thermometers under the tarps at the ends of bale stacks.

  "Under the black tarp, the reading was 125," he says. "Under silver, the thermometer read 112. Under the white tarp, the temperature stayed within a degree or two of the outside air temperature."

  That was more than three years ago. Shortly afterward, Inland Tarp & Liner began making hay tarps that are white on one side, silver on the other.

  "We put a rain gutter on the white side, although the tarps are reversible," he says. "We encourage customers to use the white side up, but I think some producers still put silver on the outside because of habit."

  Knopp notes that producers in areas with heavy snowfall also like to cover hay with the silver side up so snow will melt quicker.

  "For another thing, when you're tarping a bale stack on a bright, sunny day, the white surface has a glare that is hard on the eyes," points out Miller, who admits he often turns the silver side up for that reason.

  "My theory is, you don't want to add any more heat than absolutely necessary," Knopp says. "After you stack bales, they go through a heating process anyway, which can raise the temperature 10 or more. If you add another 10-20 to the stack by wrapping it in a dark-colored tarp, you're increasing the chance of a breakdown in the hay's nutrients."

  In Knopp's opinion, that makes white the best color for hay covers, although silver is still the standard for the industry. But, then, it took a number of years before the Model T came in colors other than black.

• Author: Glen Knopp Date: 1998.03.01

  Tarps Put A Lid On Hay Losses

  James Ritchie, Hay & Forage Grower, Mar 1, 1998 —

  "If you don't have a shed to store hay in, tarping may be the next-best option.It may even be preferable - both economically and for loading ease, say growers. Don't protect your hay and you'll probably lose 12-20% to water damage. If you're baling $100/ton hay, that's $12/ton or more lost."

  "Covering hay definitely pays," says John Starr of Covertech Fabricating, Inc., a hay tarp manufacturer in Toronto, Ontario. "We find a grower can save an average 20% of his hay, compared with leaving bales outside."

  "Hay that has been protected sells better, too," says Glen Knopp, president of Inland Tarp & Liner, Inc., Almira, WA. "We typically see buyers paying $5 to $10/ton premiums for hay stored under cover."

  When Rollie Bernth, of Ward Rugh Hay Co., Ellensburg, WA, buys hay, he sends a crew out to tarp it right away.The company buys hay from Columbia River basin growers and exports it to the Far East - primarily to Japan.

  "Not many farmers we buy hay from have hay sheds," says Bernth. "A lot of them grow alfalfa on leased land and do not want to invest in a permanent structure."

  His company stockpiles tarped hay on the farms until it's hauled to Tacoma or Seattle for shipment overseas.

  "When you're shipping hay 6,000 miles, you want to be handling quality hay," says Bernth. "And, while a hay tarp may not be as good as an enclosed shed, it's definitely better than no protection at all."

  But tarps must be in good condition to be effective.

  "Tarps are subject to wind damage in severe winter weather, and a tarp with a hole or rip in it can be worse than no cover at all," says Bernth.

  Economically, tarps may be a better investment than sheds. Knopp estimates the cost of a reinforced hay tarp this way: A nine-bale high, four-bale wide, 54'-long stack of 100-lb rectangular bales holds 65 tons of hay. At $80/ton, that's $5,200.

  "Uncovered hay will lose 11% to spoilage, mostly in the top layer," Knopp says. "That's $572 worth of hay. The cost of a 25 x 54' Super Tarp, rope and stakes totals $384. That's a savings the first year of $188 over the cost of the tarp."

  The tarp should last three years or longer, which puts the savings for three years at $1,332.

  "Tarped stacks are easier to load out of than a hay shed, too," says Conway Miller, Melbourne, AR. Miller and his son, Bill, grow grass and mixed grass-legume hay they sell and feed on their own farm. "Trucks can pull on either side of the stack and load out in less time than from a shed."

  The Millers have used hay tarps for the past seven years in a region that gets 40" of annual precipitation.

  "We're not losing much hay - maybe 2%," says Bill. "We take care of the tarps and get four or five years' use out of one. When a tarp finally gets a hole, we still use it as ground cover under the haystack."

  "We have a good horse-hay market for Bermuda grass, and horse owners like bright, fresh hay," he adds. "Many times, a buyer will buy the hay stack, tarp and all."

  That prompted the Millers to become tarp dealers a couple of years ago.

  "We've even sold tarps to lumberyards to cover dry lumber," says Conway Miller.

  The Millers stack big round bales in a 3-2-1-pyramid fashion. They use a 25 x 54' tarp to cover 66 bales, each 4 x 5'.

  "That size tarp will cover 72 bales, but we tarp fewer bales in a stack and pull the tarp over the ends of the bales," says Miller. "The tarp costs $310 and covers 33 tons of hay - for a cost of less than $10/ton. Over a four-year life of a tarp, the cost is just over $2/ton of hay covered. We figure it's profitable not only to tarp our better-quality hay, but common fescue hay as well."