Locust World Cup Fears

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Locust World Cup Fears: A plague of locusts could “disgrace” Russia by destroying World Cup pitches, claims The Russian government.

Locusts often feast on crops in southern Russia and Pyotr Chekmaryov, who oversees plant protection at the agriculture ministry, says they could descend on stadiums, too.

Locust World Cup Fears

In comments reported by state news agencies, Chekmaryov says ‘we’ve more or less learned how to deal with locusts, but this year I’m afraid we could end up in an international locust scandal.’

He adds that ‘locusts like places where there is a lot of green,’ and says that it is important ‘not to disgrace ourselves in front of global society, especially where we will have guests from all over the world.’

Chekmaryov pointed out the Volgograd region, situated more than 600 miles south of the capital Moscow, as a particular concern.

This summer’s finals will run between June 14 and July 15, with matches being played in 12 stadiums across 11 host cities.

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Game-Changer From Barenbrug

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Game-Changer From Barenbrug: Grass expert, Barenbrug UK, has launched a grass seed that manages its own moisture content, which will increase germination and establishment rates – particularly in tough, dry conditions.

The patented technology in Barenbrug Yellow Jacket Water Manager, is the result of research between Barenbrug and Aquatrols and has been independently tested by the STRI.

Game-Changer From Barenbrug

It works like this:

  1. When the seed is exposed to water, the Water Manager technology spreads into the soil creating a plant survival zone.
  2. This zone ensures that each seed has enough water to germinate, then manages the moisture content around the seeding during its establishment.
  3. As a result seedlings are less affected by abiotic stress and more plants survive.

Open Championship venue calls it “something out of sci-fi”

Craig Boath from Carnoustie Championship course, home to the Open Championship in 2018, says, “Barenbrug Yellow Jacket Water Manager has taken the sting out of overwatering landing areas on the fairways and par 3 tees.  It is clear it does not require as much water for germination due to the coating, which seems to hold on to moisture and trigger a quicker germination”.

Dr David Greenshields, Research and Development Manager at Barenbrug says:

“Barenbrug Yellow Jacket Water Manager delivers improved germination and seedling survival in the toughest environments. STRI trials also show that half the number of seeds have delivered twice the establishment. Overall, this product offers a significant development in turf science and a potential game-changer for turf managers in tricky environments, or for those looking to reduce water costs.”

For more information, visit: www.barenbrug.co.uk

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Wanderers Pitch Deemed “Poor”

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Wanderers Pitch Deemed “Poor”: The Wanderers cannot afford any errors with pitch preparation over the next five years after the ICC confirmed that the surface used in the third Test between South Africa and India was rated as ‘poor’ by match referee Andy Pycroft. As a result, the venue was hit with three demerit points under a new system that was introduced by the ICC this month. Another two demerit points within a five-year period will lead to a 12-month ban from international cricket.

While Cricket South Africa have a right of appeal, they would appear to face a difficult job overturning the verdict. Concerns over the state of the wicket reached fever pitch on day three, when the unpredictable bounce led to a number of India’s batsmen suffering blows to the body and the day’s play was curtailed when Dean Elgar incurred a blow to the head.

Wanderers Pitch Deemed "Poor"

The match continued on day four after the officials declared it was safe to continue, but while Elgar batted on bravely and carried his bat in a South African defeat, he later said that the game should have been called off.

Some of Elgar’s concerns were mirrored in Pycroft’s official report, which the ICC released on Tuesday (January 30).

“The pitch prepared for the final Test was a poor one,” said Pycroft. “It had excessively steep and unpredictable bounce, and excessive seam movement. It deteriorated quickly as the match progressed, which made batting extremely difficult and hazardous, resulting in the medical staff from both the sides having to come onto the field of play multiple times to treat their batsmen.

“As the on-field umpires are also responsible for the players’ safety, they expressed concerns about the behaviour of the pitch, and debated after day three if it was appropriate to continue the match. In the end, the umpires made the decision to continue and the Test reached its natural conclusion on day four. However, there was still excessive variable bounce and seam movement when the Test match ended.”

The ICC’s announcement capped a series that was dominated by talk of pitches – a hangover from South Africa’s 2015 tour of India when the excessive turn led to the pitch in Nagpur to be rated ‘poor’. Eager to exact an advantage by preparing sporting wickets, South Africa asked for pace and bounce from their groundsmen. But they were disappointed by a dry surface at Centurion that was rated ‘average’ by the ICC, and got more than they asked for at the Wanderers.

After losing the third Test by 63 runs, captain Faf du Plessis admitted that the extra pressure from the team’s requests might be getting to groundsmen, but suggested that they needed to up their game.

“I’m in an environment where I have to score runs and perform, so it’s the same (for groundsmen). If there is an option to get a pitch in the way that we want to, you would hope that the experience would be there to get the pitches right.”

It is the first time that a pitch in South Africa has been rated ‘poor’. Australia recently suffered the same fate when the pitch for the fourth Ashes Test against England at the MCG was rated ‘poor’, but the ground escaped any demerit points because the new disciplinary system was not yet in place.

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Doosan Dealer Changes

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Doosan Dealer Changes: Doosan Construction Equipment has confirmed that the Central Belt region of Scotland will now be looked after jointly by the company’s dealers, James Gordon Ltd (Gordons) and Balgownie Ltd. 

Based at Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, Gordons was appointed last year as the Authorised Dealer for the Doosan Heavy range in the South West and Borders regions of Scotland and for the county of Cumbria in Northern England.

Doosan Dealer Changes

The existing Gordons territory has now been extended with the addition of the following central-belt areas – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and all the Lothian Counties, Argyle and Bute, Isle of Mull, Stirling, Fife, Falkirk and the parts of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire that the company did not previously cover.

Balgownie, based at Inverurie, is responsible for the Doosan range in Aberdeenshire, Morayshire, Angus and the Highlands as well as Perthshire and Kinross-shire.  To these areas have been added the Isle of Skye and remaining Highlands postcodes.  Perth and Kinross had already been added 12 months earlier.

According to Doosan, Gordons and Balgownie have been awarded the extended areas purely on merit, despite very strong interest from other parties.  The company is looking forward to working closely with both companies to continue its success in the Scottish market.

Gordons has six depots across its territory and will operate the new Central-Belt area through the Strathaven and Berryhill depots, with support from the headquarters branch in Castle Douglas.  Balgownie will handle the extended territory from the headquarters in Inverurie and the company‘s branch in Turriff.

Founded in 1865, Gordons is a well established and much respected agricultural machinery business in South West and Central Scotland, providing a fast, efficient local service for machinery supply and, most importantly, the best possible aftersales support with 35 service engineers, five of whom are mobile engineers dedicated to construction and Doosan trained.

Balgownie Ltd started trading as an engineering company in 1907 in sheet metal work and tank manufacturing, supplying to shipyards, farmers and the food industry before diversifying into the manufacture and supply of dairy equipment.  Today, Balgownie is one of the leading specialists in construction, tractor, trailer, agriculture and groundcare machinery sales in Scotland.

Both Gordons and Balgownie are responsible for sales and servicing of the Doosan crawler, wheeled and mini/midi excavator, wheel loader and articulated dump truck ranges in their areas.

Customers of both companies benefit from superb on-site service networks, covering everything from emergency repairs to routine maintenance.  The companies‘ factory-trained engineers have many years of hands-on experience of repairs and servicing of plant and machinery.

As well as covering existing contracts, Gordons and Balgownie provide flexible service agreements, depending on the requirements of the customer.  They offer service and warranty work on all existing Doosan machines in their areas, backed by a full selection of genuine accessories and parts.  Both companies hold a stock of new and used Doosan branded machines, to respond quickly to customers’ needs.

For more information about Doosan construction equipment, visit the website www.doosanequipment.eu

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Water Suppliers – Assessing Options

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Water Suppliers – Assessing Options: It’s been almost a year since Greenkeepers in England have been able to choose who supplies their water. Almost 92,000 supply points have so far switched, with more in the pipeline, and many companies have renegotiated a better deal with their existing provider.

If you’ve never explored the options, you could be missing out on benefits including:

  • The convenience of dealing with a single supplier, reducing administration time and cost.
  • Lower prices.
  • Better customer service, specified to your needs.
  • Water efficiency services to cut the amount of water you use, saving money and waste.

Water Suppliers - Assessing Options

To help Greenkeepers understand the market and how to assess their options, independent water specialist The Water Report has produced a short guide. It explains the new arrangements and includes a supplier directory to help customers shortlist potential retailers from the 20+ companies licensed to compete.

The Customer Guide to the New Water Market is available FREE to download at http://www.thewaterreport.co.uk/guide

Karma Loveday, author of the Guide and editor of The Water Report said: “The market turns a year old in April. This is a good time for customers to look at whether they could benefit from switching, because first mover risk has passed but potential benefits remain. It can be hard to know where to start though. The Water Report has been following these developments since the beginning. We have produced The Customer Guide to the New Water Market to provide businesses with independent, high quality information to help them find their way in the new environment.”

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