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NEWS ARTICLES

Sherriff extends John Deere dealership area

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John Deere dealer Thomas Sherriff & Co, based at new premises in Haddington, East Lothian, has bought the business of W M Dodds at Jedburgh and set up a new outlet in Hexham to take over the territory previously managed by Everitt & Marshall.

These developments have extended the dealership’s business area in the Lothians, Borders and Northumberland, with six outlets in total serving customers from the River Forth in Scotland down to Durham in the north-east of England, reaching out west to the Cumbrian border. The other existing outlets are based at Alnwick, Coldstream and Stow.

The majority of the W M Dodds employees have transferred to Sherriff Jedburgh, where Jimmy Laing remains as dealership manager. He has also been appointed to the Sherriff board and has taken on the role of after sales director.

Sherriff Hexham opened for business in November at Tyne Mills Industrial Estate, just off the A69 close to the town. The dealership team there is headed by Stewart Wheeler, who has 30-plus years of experience working in the area with John Deere products.

Meanwhile, the Sherriff premises at Tweedside Industrial Estate in Berwick upon Tweed were closed at the beginning of December, but with a full commitment to retaining all of the staff from that outlet. The Berwick technicians become field based, primarily controlled from the Coldstream office, where Eddie Stewart has taken on the role of service manager from Bill Wood, who now becomes the company warranty manager.

Finally, the new Sherriff head office site at Backburn in Haddington, which replaces the existing facility at West Barns in Dunbar, will allow both the dealership’s agricultural and turf divisions to operate under the same roof for the first time. John Harrison becomes a home-based mobile technician and continues as the Dunbar customers’ first point of contact for service.

“As part of our overall expansion and restructuring plans, the development at Sherriff Haddington has seen a significant investment of almost £2 million,” says dealership managing director Colin Weatherhead. “This ensures that we can maintain the highest level of support to our customers in both the important business sectors of agricultural and professional turf equipment sales and service.

“We are also delighted to confirm that all our major suppliers, in addition to John Deere, fully support our expansion and plans for the new, extended trading area. We look forward to meeting customers old and new throughout the area over the coming months.”

Major Project Launched To See How Beneficial Golf Is To The Environment

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BIGGA, the CMAE, England Golf, Imperial College London and Environmental Solutions International have announced they are working together on a national project to survey the golf sector’s benefits to the environment.

It is estimated that:

• Golf courses in the UK could cover an area equivalent to the Lake District National Park.

• The non-managed areas of golf courses cover an area of just over 1,000 square kilometers, around the same size as the New Forest and Pembrokeshire Coastal Parks combined.

“Golf provides massive benefit to the natural environment and if we can confirm these estimates we will be able to give a more accurate value of the benefits provided to air quality, CO2 absorption, air cooling, flood relief, natural habitat / ecology and community amenity,” said Golf Environment Organisation sustainability associate Tony Hanson MBIFM, PIEMA, managing director of Environmental Solutions International.

“To confirm the value of golf, BIGGA, CMAE and England Golf have been asking members to complete and return a questionnaire covering total site size, close mown area managed areas, broad habitat types, and clubhouse size and consumption for electricity, heating and water.”

The data will be used to:

Provide an overview of golf’s environmental benefits and impacts
Identify the value of golf to the natural environment and community
Help to identify and share best management practices for the natural and built environment, to help reduce operational costs
Make the case for financial assistance and recognition of the golf sector.
“It has become increasingly apparent that there is a disconnection between the various bodies charged by the government to protect and monitor the natural environment and the golf industry associations representing the views of our industry,” added Hanson.

“The questionnaire is designed to take less than five minutes to complete but it will provide invaluable information to allow us to make the case to the statutory bodies, that the golf industry provides a valuable role in the custodianship of the natural environment providing huge benefits to the wider population.”

The idea of a golf sustainability project has been developed over the last few years following extensive discussions between Tony Hanson, Dr David Slawson and Dr Poppy Lakeman Fraser from Imperial College London, and Howard Craft from Burhill Golf and Leisure (BGL).

One of the project’s key elements is to outline the importance of the golf industry to the natural environment, as well as the value of the work provided by the golf industry to manage and enhance the natural elements of its golf courses. There are various schemes available to the farming industry to provide funding for work it undertakes to reduce cultivated land and maintain hedgerows and field margins, but there are no incentives available to the golf industry.

Imperial College London has been exploring the use of Open Air Laboratories’ (OPAL) citizen science surveys to monitor biodiversity and environmental quality of golf courses. The aims are to find a method of measuring and valuing the ‘Natural Capital Value’ provided by the golf industry and to develop a simple method of increasing the area of courses friendly to nature.

“Golf courses offer improved air quality, carbon dioxide absorption, air temperature reduction, rainwater run-off attenuation and a host of other functions provided through the natural processes associated with the habitat and eco-systems maintained by the golf industry,” said Hanson.

“If it is possible for the golf industry to come together and provide the information requested in the ‘Golf Sustainability Project’, we will be in a much better position to make the case for the golf industry to access the various resources available from the non-governmental organisations, charities and academia to help increase knowledge across our industry and potentially to reduce operational impacts and costs.”

To read the full article, click here

Two up for Lamma

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Take the Polaris Sportsman ATV and give it Active Descent Control (ADC) coupled with the option of carrying two people and you have the new Polaris Sportsman X2 570, on display at Lamma.

This is a serious contender for anyone wanting a highly versatile working vehicle for steep hill work, while having the facility to configure the rear dump box for a second seat. Powered by a 567cc, fuel injected engine, the Sportsman has all the power you need to take two people up the steepest inclines and bring you safely back down, with the Engine Braking System and ADC automatically engaging on all four wheels for optimum traction and control in all conditions. If you want the utility and capabilities of a traditional farm pick-up with the agility of a quad the Sportsman is just that, with Electronic Power Steering and the refinement of the world’s best-selling ATV’s legendary attributes. Independent Rear Suspension, with 24.1 cm of rear travel, On-Demand True All-Wheel Drive, a massive 556kg of towing capacity and the dump box with its tipping facility for quick unloading make it an easy choice.

A work partner is only as good as his reliability and the Polaris Sportsman X2 570 is equipped with sealed ball joints which can be greased, sealed driveshaft splines and sealed suspension bushes. This not only provides increased durability in harsh conditions it also offers easier ongoing maintenance. Tough, durable, carries two people and heavy loads and deals easily with steep slopes, this Sportsman is surely the ideal all-round farm ATV.
The Polaris Sportsman X2 570 is being offered in Sage Green and will be available from early 2017.

Also displayed at the show will be the new Polaris Ranger Diesel, which is scheduled to become available towards the end of March 2017, and the display at Lamma provides the opportunity to see the features and updates to this popular three-seater Side by Side.

Improved amenity offer and bio-diversity among benefits of 8,000-strong woodland tree-planting plan

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Sheffield City Council and Trees for Cities will plant around 8,000 trees around the city over the next few weeks.
Some 7,500 native woodland trees, mainly whips, will be planted at three parks in the south-east of the city, while hundreds more, including semi-mature standards, will be planted at other sites.

Different planting events will take place at the three park sites, involving members of the local community and children from neighbouring schools, while Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Denise Fox, will joing the planting at Fox Lane Recreation Ground.

The council’s cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure, Councillor Mary Lea, said: “This is especially important at a time when we are increasingly cementing our reputation as the UK’s Outdoor City and demonstrating that Sheffield is a city where people can come to walk, jog, ride their bikes and enjoy family days out in an array of fabulous green spaces.”

Its community forestry manager Tim Shortland added: “Sheffield’s existing woodlands are renowned nationally, but many are in decline and despite being of great value to people and wildlife alike will not last forever.

“These new woodlands will maintain the cities woodland legacy, increase biodiversity, clean the air and create new amenity opportunities. They will create the next generation of woodlands for future generations of Sheffielders to enjoy.”

Trees for Cities chief executive David Elliott said: “These projects will bring diversity to the landscape, enhance the wildlife and give residents opportunities to connect with nature. They will be an invaluable asset to the health and wellbeing of the local communities.”

* Elsewhere in the city, Sheffield City Council has come under fire for its street tree removal programme.

Interviewed by presenter and veteran DJ Andy Kershaw while inspecting felled and soon-to-be-felled trees in the city BBC’s One Show, arboriculture consultant Jeremy Barrell said: “From a health and safety point of view they are fine – none of them need to come out.

Defending the policy, the council’s Cabinet Member for Environment councillor Bryan Lodge said the trees “are causing damage to pavements and highways including those on Rustlings Road” – the site of a controversial night-time felling operation in November.

Greenkeepers launch new strategy for responsible golf course management

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The Federation of European Golf Greenkeepers Association (FEGGA)has developed a new strategy aimed at promoting responsible and sustainable golf course management.

FEGGA’s 24 European national greenkeeping organisations will promote and endorse the association’s strategic vision, which ‘embraces golf’s potential to produce multiple benefits for nature and man’.

As part of the vision, the association has outlined a roadmap that offers a three-dimensional sustainability strategy to people working in the industry.

This roadmap has a focus on achieving positive results in resource consumption, biodiversity, waste, pollution and extent of managed turf. Other areas covered include research and education, and improving transparency and developing community outreach.

“This is the first time that the daily practitioners of golf’s grassroots movement agree on a strategy for such an important aspect of our industry’s future,” said Olafur Thor Agustsson, chairman of FEGGA.

FEGGA’s strategy also encourages the use of monitoring and reporting tools by greenkeeping teams, including GEO’s OnCourse framework.

“Golf course management is coming under increasing pressure across Europe,” said Jonathan Smith, GEO’s director. “Pesticide and water regulation is starting to bite in many countries, costs of resources and materials are increasing, and golfers expectations continue to rise. This timely statement, backed by so many of the industry’s course management representatives expresses an important commitment and plan that will help the sport address these significant challenges, now and in the future. We were very pleased to play a part in its development.”

FEGGA has issued a document that shows how progress will be monitored and how awareness of the association’s strategy will be raised.

“It is extremely encouraging to see the greenkeeping profession in Europe, through FEGGA, promoting sustainability for golf course management,” said Steve Isaac, the R&A’s director of sustainability. “The R&A has led this cause, but only the implementation of accepted best practice by the professionals who care for our golf courses, and transparent reporting through systems such as OnCourse, will convince everyone that the sport can bring economic, environmental and social benefits. We commend FEGGA for producing this statement and hope they are able to achieve its adoption so we see greater sustainability on the ground.”

To read the original article, click here