The Rocky South 4-H Beef Club is one of four groups to win prizes in Cleanfarms’ Great Twine Round-Up contest.

The five-month contest, part of the “Alberta Ag-Plastic Recycle It!” pilot program, ended May 31 with 17 unique participants.

Altogether, Alberta farmers and 4-H clubs submitted 76 entries to the contest, each of which represented one bag of used baler twine that will be recycled into products like car parts and dimensional lumber.

An early-bird prize was drawn in February, and a final draw was held after the contest ended. Four prizes were awarded: three to 4-H clubs and one to an independent entrant’s Alberta-based agricultural non-profit or charity of choice.

In the 4-H club category, the Rocky South 4-H Beef Club and Hanna Rangeland 4-H Multi Club each received $3,000. The Lethbridge Northern 4-H Beef Club won the $3,000 early-bird prize, and the individual prize went to the MTM Agricultural Society.

The Rocky South 4-H Beef Club won in 2025 as well.

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Related: Cleanfarms’ Great Twine Round-Up returns for 2026; Rocky South 4-H Club among 2025 winners

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Cleanfarms interim executive director Shane Hedderson said the continued engagement from the Alberta agriculture community reflects the value Albertans place on taking care of the environment.

“Every individual who took time to collect and drop off bags of used baler twine for recycling is a leader in agricultural recycling, and we’re thrilled to have been able to give back with cash prizes for good causes thanks to our partnership with the APRG,” Hedderson said.

The program is part of Cleanfarms’ broader national efforts to help Canadian farmers manage agricultural plastics responsibly and keep them out of landfills and the environment. The organization recovers and recycles agricultural and related industry plastics, packaging and products in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

With files from farmnewsNOW.