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Two pieces of legislation proposing a tax on plastic bags will hit the Virginia state legislature this week, one at 20 cents and the other a nickel. Unlike D.C.’s bag tax debate, which focused largely on the impact of bags on the Anacostia River, Virginia legislators are more interested in land than water. Specifically, the land of farmers. The List spoke to officials, farmers, and others about the impact of plastic bag trash on Isle of Wight County, Va., where bags have been a scourge for cotton farmers.

1. Plastic bags spoil the aesthetics of the farm

   “It’s just not a pretty sight when you drive down a rural highway and you see plastic bags all over a farm field or up in the trees,” says Don Robertson, county public information officer. Local farmer Brian Carroll says the situation was terrible: “You could see 500 bags blowing across the field.”

2. Machinery picks up the bags

   Once a bag is in the field, it’ll likely be picked along with the cotton. “Man’s sitting way high up on a cotton picker,” says Chris Alphin, a shipping manager at a local cotton gin, “it’s easy for him to miss a bag that gets mixed up in the spinner.”

3. If bags get caught in the machines, it presents a hazard for farmers

   Not only can the machines be damaged by the plastic, but the famer must then remove the plastic. “Any time you stick your hand in a piece of farm machinery, it’s dangerous,” says Carroll.

4. Plastic bag particles cannot be removed during the ginning process

   “That’s super, super fast,” says Alphin. “The gin doesn’t have a way of knowing it has plastic in it.” The plastic is woven into the cotton. “It goes basically unnoticeable until it goes down to the point of finished garment inspection.”

5. Garments tainted with plastic won’t take dye

   Though plastic in the cotton is undetectable until a garment is finished, it’s quite obvious at the end: any plastic particles in the garment won’t take dye and leave a white streak. “The garment basically ends up being useless,” Alphin says. Carroll says tainted garments can be sold at a discount, but “we certainly don’t want a discount”— it drives down prices for cotton bales.

6. Ultimately a textile mill can decide not to buy cotton from certain farms or counties

   Though Alphin says he knows of no textile mills that have sworn off Virginia cotton, he says it is “absolutely” a possibility. “They can absolutely say I won’t buy from X county in Virginia because they have such a terrible plastic issue,” he says.

7. Plastic bag trash can kill livestock

   Several sources spoke of the threat of plastic bags to livestock. Tom Wright, a member of the Board of Supervisors who first brought the county’s bag problem to the public’s attention, says he can only think of one cow that has died in the county. But even one cow’s death is a significant loss to a farmer. “That was a prize bull,” he says. “We’re talking a lot of money.”

8. How widespread the issue is remains unclear

   Bill Hayden of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality says he has heard from some southern Virginia counties about problems with plastic bags, but adds that “it’s not something we’ve seen as a statewide issue.” He was unable to provide information about plastic bag trash in the state because “we don’t really track litter pollution that way.” That’s not to say Hayden discounts the plastic bag problem. “Litter is certainly an eyesore and it’s not desirable,” he says. “There’s a lot of issues in various parts of the state.”