Woods Charlerois Plant Reaches Full Production

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Woods Charlerois Plant Reaches Full Production: Woods Equipment have confirmed their custom built spares and assembly plant in Charlerois, Belgium, is now offering the company’s full product range, with most products available either ex stock or within three weeks. Simon Richard the UK Agent for the Woods rotary cutter range says, “huge progress has been made since assembly began in January 2018 and this announcement confirms the Woods commitment to offering optimum service to UK and European Agriculture and Groundcare markets.

Since taking on the Woods range in early 2017 we have been amazed by the number of extremely old but still fully functioning machines we have become aware of. Machines like Batwings at 18 years old and single Rotor machines at 20 years. We have even come across a triple Finishing Mower at 30 years of age.  We are now asking owners to send us a picture of their machine at work, the serial number and their name and address. The owner of the oldest working machine will win a Woods 20 ton log splitter.

Woods Charlerois Plant Reaches Full Production

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Syngenta To Exhibit At BTME

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Syngenta To Exhibit At BTME: Syngenta will be giving turf managers the opportunity to win a professional PAR light meter every day at BTME 2019 – to scientifically measure useable light reaching their surfaces, and to manage turf more effectively.

To enter, turf managers simply need to register on the Syngenta stand – Purple Hall, 428 – pick up a Ryder brochure and follow @syngentaturfuk on Twitter to find out the lucky winner on each day of the event.

Syngenta To Exhibit At BTME

Furthermore, all turf managers can now benefit from a new GreenCast weather service showing forecast light intensity levels for the coming five days, displayed as light intensity in µmol per m² per second, for their specific site.

Syngenta Technical Manager, Glenn Kirby, advocated that understanding the levels of light are hitting the surface, where and when during the day, is extremely important in making decisions to make light work more efficiently using Ryder applications.

“Only a relatively small spectrum of sunlight can be physiologically absorbed and utilised by turf plants – the PAR light,” he pointed out. “Light waves at either end of the spectrum can be potentially damaging to plant tissue.

“Furthermore, the amount of PAR light reaching open turf surfaces can be far in excess of the plants’ ability to photosynthesise and turn it into energy,” he advised.

“This over saturation of light can induce stress within the plant, particularly when it occurs in combination with other stress factors, such as moisture, nutrient deficiency or temperature extremes, for example.”

Glenn warned that the short leaves of tight mown turf surfaces offer limited buffer for stress effects and makes plants more susceptible to other issues, including Anthracnose outbreaks that have been increasingly prevalent in recent seasons.

“Managing light levels impacting on plants is now recognised as a crucial part of an Integrated Turf Management programme,” he advocated. “Ryder turf pigment has shown to enhance the naturalistic green colour of turf surfaces throughout the season, and also offers the chance to manage and mitigate against harmful levels of light affecting plants.”

The sun radiates a broad spectrum of light, typically measured from 300-1100 nanometers (nm). But it is only the Photosynthetically Active Radiation – from 400 to 700 nm – that is of real benefit for plants, according to Glenn.

“Now we can start measuring the amount of PAR light getting to the plant we can begin to gauge what’s happening in the plant and monitor it’s impact, The light intensity measured by the Field Scout shows how intense the PAR light can be.

“Turf plants’ ability to photosynthesise plateaus at around 400 µmol per m² per second; but light levels during the summer in the UK can easily hit 2000 µmol per m² per second. Once you begin to understand good levels of light and excessive light, you will begin to understand and adjust your maintenance programs to cope with this little understood stress,” he advised.

To help turf managers get a more accurate picture of light levels on their turf, Syngenta will be giving away a Field Scout Quantum Meter, worth over £200, on each day of the BTME event, organised by BIGGA and held in Harrogate from 22 – 24 January 2019.

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R Grass Seed From Rigby Taylor

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R Grass Seed From Rigby Taylor: Two new cultivars will ensure that Rigby Taylor’s R14 perennial ryegrass blend remains the number one choice for sports pitch construction and renovation. Fast establishment and high wear tolerance come high on the list when choosing a perennial ryegrass but, of equal importance, the 2019 version of R14 also delivers fast recovery after wear.

R14 features the top-performing Europitch perennial ryegrass, together with the new cultivar Cameron – ideally reinforced with the inclusion of Eurosport and Eurocordus for a perfectly-balanced blend. Cameron and Eurosport jointly achieved the highest scores for recovery in ‘Turfgrass Seed 2019’*.

R Grass Seed From Rigby Taylor

Eurosport also features in Rigby Taylor’s R14CR, where the Fiesta 4 creeping perennial ryegrass cultivar provides increased tolerance to Leaf Spot and fast early establishment.

For cricket squares and tennis courts, the R9 100% ultra-fine dwarf rye blend also benefits from the introduction of the new perennial ryegrass cultivar, Gianna, which now features alongside Clementine, Estelle and Duparc. R9 combines low crowns, high shoot density, clean cut, fast recovery from close mowing and exceptional tolerance to Red Thread disease.

Red Thread, although not often fatal to the grass plant, is increasingly aggressive and unsightly, weakening the plant and making it more susceptible to attack from fatal diseases. That’s the reason why Gianna and Duparc, both with exceptional Red Thread disease tolerance, also feature in Rigby Taylor’s R8, a mix of ultra-fine rye and slender creeping red fescue.

In the middle of winter, Rigby Taylor seeds keep the surfaces growing until the end of the season with a choice of mixtures featuring tetraploid perennial ryegrass technology. Ten mixtures in the tetraploid range are designed for a wide variety of applications and include R314 Rye, R140 and R442.

Tetraploid perennial ryegrass has double the amount of chlorophyll compared with diploids, making it extremely vigorous and stress tolerant. Not only does it grow in colder conditions, it also has higher root mass for stability, nutrient uptake and drought tolerance plus increased tolerance to Microdochium patch and other turf grass diseases.

R314 Rye includes amenity annual ryegrass for the fastest germination and establishment possible in cold temperatures and is recommended for divoting and temporary repairs. R140 and R442 are blends of tetraploid and diploid perennial ryegrasses for cold temperature germination, wear and persistency. All are capable of germination from just 4°C and mixtures are available for sports pitches, racecourses and cricket outfields.

With the reduced choice of fungicide options, selecting mixtures with increased disease tolerance is becoming ever critical. So, too, is fast establishment which not only brings the surface into play faster but also supports plant health in the longer term. If a sward struggles to establish then the plants can be more susceptible to disease.

Rigby Taylor’s R Range mixtures treated with Germin-8T provides added benefits – and added value.

In the short term, the penetrating surfactant, sugars and micro nutrients help the plants establish faster in cold conditions, while the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi and Trichoderma atroviride deliver longer term, symbiotic health benefits to the established plant.

Only 2% by weight, Germin-8T liquid seed treatment means the seed can be sowed at the usual recommended rate, delivering real benefits without additional cost.

*Turfgrass Seed 2019

R14                             Wear               Recovery

Europitch                   8.1                   7.5

EuroCordus              7.9                   7.5

Eurosport                   7.8                   7.8

Cameron                   7.7                   7.8

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Cricket Groundcare Awards Nomination 2019

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Cricket World® and Turf Matters are pleased to announce the 2019 Cricket Groundcare Awards.

The Awards have been introduced to recognise the dedication and hard work that groundcare individuals put into maintaining and producing cricket squares and outfields, for reactional clubs, schools and universities in the UK and Ireland.

We also hope that they will raise the profile and awareness of ground care staff (without whom there would be no cricket) and encourage and promote the Groundcare industry.

There will be seven award categories and the judging process will take into account the quality of the playing surface, general upkeep of the ground, longevity of service ,an ‘against all odds’ and an overall Groundcare person of the Year and the winners will be invited to a special presentation at Lord’s Cricket Ground, in London.

Click here to nominate

Cricket World and Turf Matters Groundcare Awards 2019

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