Turf News is the perfect place for professionals working within the UK’s vibrant turf industry – keeping you up-to-date with topical news, latest market developments and much more across all areas of the industry.
NEWS ARTICLES

Ecoplug Max Prevents Re-Growth

/in , /by

Ecoplug Max Prevents Re-Growth: Martin Lingard, Contracts Manager for Lowther Forestry, has reported that ICL’s Ecoplug Max is helping him manage an extensive tree and shrub clearance project throughout Yorkshire.

Lowther Forestry – a nationwide forestry, landscaping and fencing contractor was established in 1979 and now has four regional offices. Over the years the company has significantly grown and prides itself on providing exceptional quality, value and sustainability to businesses and organisations throughout the United Kingdom.

Ecoplug Max Prevents Re-Growth

Martin Lingard has been with the company for 19 years and after looking for an alternative to liquid glyphosate for stump control, he turned to Ecoplug Max – which he purchased through ICL distributor Green-tech.

Ecoplug Max is a patented tree stump control application method which delivers glyphosate directly into the tree stump, killing its root system and preventing re-growth. Each plug contains 300mg of granular glyphosate which are simply placed into holes drilled into the stump using the Ecoplug drill bit. The plugs are then hammered in forcing out the sides of the plug, releasing the glyphosate into the phloem.

“We have been using Ecoplug Max for the past few years as part of a tree and shrub clearance project for the Environment Agency,” says Martin. Based on the work last year we have seen fantastic results – we’ve had no comeback or re-growth of willows.”

Ecoplug Max supports requirements of the sustainable use directive to minimise use of pesticides. With the glyphosate encapsulated inside the unit, it never gets in direct contact with anything else but the plant, in turn minimizing the risk of the operator coming into contact with chemical or chemical spillage. Furthermore, it also eliminates the risk of damage to surrounding trees and vegetation. Quite simply, it stays where it belongs – inside the plant.

“As a product, it is so much better than spraying the stumps,” says Martin. “The beauty of it, is that it is so easy to use – we just apply the plugs easily into the holes that have been pre-drilled. It is certainly more efficient as well; in the past when we were spraying, just a little bit of breeze would mean that we would have to stop and wait until it passed. We’re also not having to carry lots of liquid so it is ideal from that point of view. It is safe to handle as well because you have no risk of spillages.

“We work in environmentally sensitive habitats and by using Ecoplug Max there is no risk of drift or contamination of habitat and the product, when applied, is not at risk of wash off by rain or flood. There is also the added benefit of less handling on site of concentrated herbicide product.

“Overall, I would say that it is a very good product and one that I would not hesitate to recommend.”

For further information, please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

“Fantastic Results” From Toro

/in , , /by

“Fantastic Results” From Toro: Scarborough Borough Council’s recently appointed parks and countryside manager, Tim Allison, has invested in Toro for the first time in the form of five new Toro LT-F3000 triple flail mowers, and the green spaces of the North Yorkshire seaside town are already benefitting from the change.

Previously cut by cylinder mowers that struggled with long grass and dandelions, the highway verges, small open spaces and mini golfs of Scarborough are now being maintained by the five innovative flail mowers, five days a week.

"Fantastic Results" From Toro

With 28 years’ experience working in various roles within Scarborough’s parks and countryside service, Tim wanted to re-evaluate the council’s grounds strategy to uphold its national reputation for prestigious green flag award-winning parks and open spaces, such as Peasholm and Falsgrave Park.

He explains why he decided to take this new approach of using flail instead of cylinder mowers and Toro, which is distributed in the UK by Reesink Turfcare: “Jon Wright from our local dealer Russells Groundcare was especially helpful during the decision-making process by helping organise a demo of machines across the market.

“We lined up five different cylinder, rotary and flail mowers from different brands and put them to use in a local park. The Toro LT-F3000s were agreed to be by far the best, both in build quality and the standard of cut they produced.

“In fact”, he continues, “the machines are only on their second cuts across the borough and already we’ve received positive feedback from the public, councillors, managers and, most importantly, the operatives about the quality of cut and improvement in after-cut appearance.”

Tim compares the after-cut appearance produced by the machines to a ‘green carpet’: “Thanks to the ability of the LT-F3000 to tackle longer grass, we’ve raised the height of cut and there are many benefits to doing this.

“Firstly,” he says, “there are shorter grass clippings, which are swept into the freshly-cut sward. Because of the space in the flail head, where grass does not build up, clippings are not left in clumps but spread evenly in the machine’s wake and hidden from view – giving the impression of a green carpet.”

Reduced grass growth is another, says Tim: “The higher you cut grass, the less you promote its growth. So while grass isn’t cut as short as when we used cylinders, it remains a neater length for longer. This is ideal because time is of the essence.”

Finally, and most importantly, Tim adds, there is public perception: “Rather than seeing short grass for a moment followed by a long period of rapid growth, the public is now seeing spaces across the borough maintained at a constant rate. The build-up of grass cuttings have gone and they are reassured that we are out looking after the green spaces of Scarborough regularly.”

Buoyed with positive comments from all angles, Tim concludes: “Councils can quite often become stuck in the old ways of doing things, so by going against the status quo there was additional pressure for the machines to perform. With such fantastic results, these new Toro LT-F3000 flail mowers have left no room for doubt that they are up to the job.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Gleneagles’s New Golf Courses Manager

/in , /by

Gleneagles’s New Golf Courses Manager: Gleneagles, the iconic Scottish hotel and sporting estate, has announced the appointment of Craig Haldane as its new Golf Courses Manager.

South African Craig, a well-known figure in the global golf industry, joins Gleneagles from Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, where he held the position of Director – Golf Course Maintenance, and had led golf course operations at the iconic Middle East venue for the past 11 years.

Previous to this, Haldane’s international experience included senior roles at Nad Al Sheba Golf Club, Dubai; Riffa Golf Club, Bahrain; Ria Bintan Golf Club, Indonesia; and Fancourt Hotel, South Africa.

Haldane arrives at Gleneagles as it prepares for the staging of two significant tournaments over the next 18 months – the inaugural European Golf Team Championships on The PGA Centenary Course this August and The Solheim Cup 12 months later – as well as the centenary of The King’s Course next year.

The James Braid-designed King’s Course will also welcome the 100th playing of the Scottish Stroke Play Championship this year, while The Queen’s Course will see the second PING Scottish Mixed Championship.

Commenting on this important announcement, Gary Silcock, Director of Golf at Gleneagles, said: “I’m incredibly excited by Craig’s appointment and his global experience and expertise will be a huge asset as we continue to invest in our golf business and customer experience.

“His industry knowledge and tournament preparation skills – The Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club stages the European Tour sanctioned Omega Dubai Desert Classic each year – will be invaluable. Bringing together Craig’s experience with Scott Fenwick, our Director of Agronomy & Estates, who has 38 years of tournament expertise here at Gleneagles, is helping us create one of the strongest tournament teams in golf.

“We are now blending a growing international team with home-grown talent and Craig’s appointment will allow us to further develop our succession planning goals within our Greens Team Apprentice programme, which started two years ago.”

Haldane’s appointment at ‘The Glen’ coincides with the 850-acre Perthshire estate winning a host of industry accolades, including being named the ‘No.1 Golf Resort in Britain & Ireland’ by Golf World Magazine, and the ‘Ultimate Golf Resort’ at the recent 59club Awards.

Craig Haldane, said: “Gleneagles is one of the world’s great golf estates and the opportunity to work with Gary and the team to deliver the next chapter in its illustrious golfing history is something I am hugely looking forward to.

“The King’s, The Queen’s and The PGA Centenary Course are already recognised the world-over as exceptional golf experiences and I am confident that in my new role, and with the support of the incredible golf team at Gleneagles, we will be able to take the management, conditioning and preparation of all courses to the next level.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Foley ‘Up The Game’ In Russia

/in , /by

Foley ‘Up The Game’ In Russia: Twenty Neary grinders are upping the game at training centres and stadiums across Russia for the 2018 World Cup.

In March 2018, well before the latest festival of football kicked off at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Foley United’s / Neary European sales representative, Arjen Spek, delivered a grinding workshop at a Turf Professional event in Moscow, organised by the Russian Neary distributor Unisaw, with 130 attendees getting hands on experience with the Neary machines while learning the benefits of grinding to OEM specifications.

Foley 'Up The Game' In Russia

Arjen Spek was delighted with the interest shown and the subsequent installation of twenty Neary Grinders across the World Cup venues in Russia,says “Neary distributor for Russia; Unisaw, organised this event very well in March and all the groundsmen from the stadiums and training grounds attended, with the main goal to educate / train and the Neary seminar “quality of cut and after cut appearance” was a high topic during this event.

“The already highly qualified groundsmen went home with the correct knowledge of how to maintain a cutting unit according OEM specification.”

32 teams will compete in 64 games at the World Cup with hundreds of training sessions taking place in-between. The heavy usage of the pitches at the stadia and training centres over the four-week tournament makes a first-class cut imperative and the quick high-quality grind offered by the Foley United brand of machines stands to be the reason a majority of venues opted for Neary.

Tests carried out by leading manufacturers have established that relief ground cylinders stay on cut up to three times longer than spun ground ones and require less horsepower to drive the unit, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and less stress on the hydraulic power systems. In addition, a relief ground cylinder will with stand the abrasive effects of topdressing far better than one spun ground because the relief edge on both the bed-knife and the cylinder allows the topdressing to clear the cutting blades easily, helping to prevent the dulling effect seen on spun only units.

Foley 'Up The Game' In Russia

Continual relief grinding also decreases the squeezing and tearing of the grass as the units get dull and, most importantly, it allows the cylinder to be returned to a factory specification perfect cylinder as quickly as possible.

The overall cleaner cut achieved by relief grinding gives a better after-cut appearance, increased recovery rate due to the clean cut of the grass and reduces the stress on components because less horsepower is needed to drive the cylinder.

Foley United and Arjen Spek are proud to play a part in the preparation of pitches for the world’s biggest tournament.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Valagro Launches Master Supreme

/in , /by

Valagro Launches Master Supreme: Valagro, a leading company in the production and marketing of biostimulants and other specialty nutrients, today presents their premium line of water-soluble fertilisers, Master Supreme, to the Chinese market at the NCIC Global Specialty Fertilizer Convention, a landmark event for the Chinese agricultural market, organised by China National Chemical Information Center (CNCIC).

Master Supreme is a new solution created by Valagro as a response to farmers’ needs and it is able to provide a guaranteed nutritional and biostimulant effect.     Master Supreme water-soluble fertilizers line has a high quality and purity and is enriched with biologically active compounds such as Ascophyllum nodosum extracts and humich compouds. These new formulations are the result of exclusive GeaPower technology (GEA 582) and guarantee greater and more efficient crop nutrition, naturally stimulating the physiological processes of the plant,ensuring quantitative and qualitative increase in production. The Master Supreme line offers 5 different solutions to ensure the correct supply of nutrients and biologically active substances in every phase of vegetative-productive development:

  1. Master Supreme Starter: the nutritional solution to improve the first stages of plant growth and to increase root development
  2. Master Supreme Development: formulated to nourish the plant while promoting vegetative development
  3. Master Supreme Flowering: the solution for stimulating metabolic activity, designed to nourish the plant during the flowering phase, it also stimulates metabolic activity
  4. Master Supreme Ripening: the presence of specific biologically active elements helps to improve the quality parameters of the fruit
  5. Master Supreme Balanced: the balanced formulation for every physiological process.

Valagro Launches Master Supreme

The launch for the Chinese market follows many events that have taken place in Italy, Turkey, Spain and Greece since 2017 with the involvement of farmers, technicians and the main distributors in these markets.

Derek Fang, Country manager Valagro (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd:
“Our Master Supreme Line can meet successfully the needs of the Chinese farmers. Often the Chinese agriculture is affected by nutritional imbalance during farmers planting. While using water-soluble fertilizers, more and more farmers begin to accept humic acid and seaweed fertilizer. All these above contributes to rise the demand for products which combine organic and inorganic fertilizer together in order to ensure a growing effective and sustainable nutrition to the crops. Also, this is in line with the demand for a growing sustainability in agriculture set by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA): in fact within 2020 the MOA want to improve the fertilizer use efficiency by achieving over 40% of the fertilizer efficiency rate (+7% over 2013)”.

Rita Basile, Valagro product manager:
“Numerous tests have shown that the active ingredients present in the Master Supreme formulations help activate the physiological processes that optimise the performance of the plant. For this reason, the solutions of the Master Supreme line are able to guarantee a better absorption and use of nutrients using lower doses, compared to traditional methods of fertigation. This translates into a more precise and intelligent use of fertilisers, with a consequent increase in ROI for farmers, as well as a reduction in the environmental impact of crops. These aspects certainly represent an effective response to the needs of productivity and sustainability of the Chinese agricultural market.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.