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

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.

Vandals Wreck Sports Ground

/in , , /by

Vandals Wreck Sports Ground: HB Regional Sports Park management and users are understandably unhappy that over the weekend hoons in vehicles have ripped up one of the grassed playing fields.

For what was probably a few minutes of “fun”, these vandals have destroyed weeks of work that went into preparing the field, ruined a season of sport that players would have had on the pitch and cost the park a lot of money.

The damage is going to take the rest of the playing season to fix.

All for what? And why?

Rugby League Hawke’s Bay chairman Kevin Tamati has referred to the vandals as “idiots”. I doubt anyone will argue with him.

“While the vast majority of us would see the harm in wrecking a public playing field, there is a brainless minority that sees a grassed area as a chance to use their vehicle like a roundabout in a kids’ playground.

And any grassed area seems to be fair game … reserves and domains, picnic areas, river berms, school fields. I can’t understand someone that could delight in trashing what belongs to all of us. Where’s the pride in turning an expanse of grass into a swampy, muddy mess?

While all around us last weekend there were volunteers planting and beautifying our parks and reserves, why would you prefer to cause ugliness and ruin?

Not to mention that it’s illegal.

I have a suggestion – if these infantile souls like to go round and round, perhaps they could wait until all the smaller children have gone home from the playgrounds and they could spin on roundabouts all they like. Or go really high on the swings if it’s thrills they are after.

And they wouldn’t be breaking the law, exactly, though some playgrounds do have an age limit so that should give them a frisson of guilt, if that’s what they are after.

Or – and here’s an idea I bet none of them have thought of – they could grow up, act their ages and respect people’s property. Maybe even take up a sport and enjoy the playing fields in a whole – and wholesome – new way?”

Click here to read the original article

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.

Toro Impresses At SALTEX

/in , , /by

Toro Impresses At SALTEX: At SALTEX 2017 last November, Toro’s LT-F3000 triple flail mower stood out from the crowd to Harlow Council-founded facilities management company, HTS Group Limited. In fact the company, which deals with grass cutting and landscape maintenance for the postcode, was so impressed it promptly invested in two machines.

As Andrew Bradley, landscapes manager at HTS Group, explains: “The LT-F3000 not only stood out with its signature Toro red, but for looking professional and robust. After making some enquiries, it was clear that it would tick all of our boxes, too.

Toro Impresses At SALTEX

“Post-show, I got in touch with our local Reesink Turfcare representative, Danny Lake, who took me on a tour around the Spellbrook Toro Factory in Bishop Stortford. Seeing machines hand built before my eyes convinced me that for quality and robustness, Toro was the way to go.”

Two LT-F3000 flail mowers join HTS Group’s fleet of 19 grounds machines and replace a 12-year-old cylinder mower to maintain medium-sized open spaces across the Essex district too small for a tractor-drawn mower and too large for a rotary.

Another box ticked for Andrew is that the LT-F3000 is road legal. He says: “With most sites six miles away, and their proximity to busy roads making parking a nightmare, being able to drive our machines to jobs is a must. A bonus with Toro’s triple flail is that it has a good road speed of 15.5mph.”

And the machines are proving their worth in action too, meaning Andrew’s show instincts were well-founded: “The wet spring has made grass grow like mad, but the flail mowers are chewing through it effortlessly. This would have been too much for our cylinder mower,” he says.

“The Toros, however, make light work of the grass and even leave a beautiful striped finish to really top it all off,” Andrew concludes.

To find out more about Reesink’s groundscare range, tailored to the needs of the UK groundsman, 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.

Makita Speaker Gets Even Better

/in , /by

Makita Speaker Gets Even Better: The new and versatile Makita DMR202 Job Site Speaker with Bluetooth delivers the ultimate sound system on site offering a wide range of playback options.  Powered by the Lithium-Ion range of Makita 18v LXT and 10.8v to 12v CXT slide type batteries, as well as AC power supply, this compact and lightweight speaker delivers a huge 10.0 watts of output from the two-way speaker system.  This model also features a 101.6mm woofer and 36mm tweeter.

This intelligent speaker features several new benefits including an LCD panel that displays song titles as well as the singer or band.  Conveniently, it can play music in USB Flash Memory overcoming the need to run via a mobile phone, and it has a repeat function that allows the entire playlist to repeat, or to be song-specific.  Additionally, a play at random function can be selected.

Makita Speaker Gets Even Better

This must-have job site speaker is also equipped with Bluetooth Class 2 to wirelessly connect to your mobile device for playing music with a range of up to 10 metres.  There is never a fear of losing signal or running your device battery down as the DMR202 can charge your device and play at the same time, offering convenience, versatility and greater safety.

Other features of the DMR202 speaker includes AUX-IN jack; LED indicators to show power supply, maximum volume, and Bluetooth pairing / connectivity; a IP64 protection rating against dust and light rain fall, and a flat-top, anti-slip surface for the portable device.  Within the speaker’s compact proportions of 211mm x 199mm x 206mm, there is an integral compartment to store your portable device so it can also be charged whilst stored within the speaker for ultimate protection and security.  Elastomer bumpers and comfortable carrying handle complete this body only model allowing you to use the existing batteries for your range of high performance Makita power tools.

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.

Record Result For Barenbrug

/in , /by

Record Result For Barenbrug: Grass expert, Barenbrug UK, has dominated the BSPB Turfgrass bentgrass trials this year, with a top rating for its new cultivar, Charles – making ALL BENT the No.1 100% browntop bentgrass grass seed mixture currently on the market.

Designed specifically for overseeding and species exchange in golf and bowling greens, the aggressive nature of this cultivar heralds new standards for course managers looking at long term sustainability using fewer chemicals.

Record Result For Barenbrug

For the majority of golf courses, particularly those on traditional “soil push-up greens”, replacing annual meadowgrass with browntop bentgrass could have significant benefits in year-round smoothness and trueness, as well as providing substantial savings in fungicide, fertiliser and water costs.

David Greenshields, Barenbrug Product Manager said:

”ALL BENT is a vital new tool in the armoury of a course manager looking to provide consistent and reliable colour and performance for players—but in a more sustainable way.”

The majority of golf and bowling greens in the UK are dominated by annual meadowgrass (Poa annua), which has inherent challenges in maintaining high quality surfaces, particularly for year-round play.

Record Result For Barenbrug

The STRI trials show that Charles breaks new ground for visual merit and shoot density, and promises to play a key role in outcompeting Poa annua in a close-mown green.

For more information, visit: www.barenbrug.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.