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NEWS ARTICLES

Tony Aitchison A Real ‘Natural’ To Join Replay

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Leading synthetic surface maintenance company, Replay Maintenance, have recently appointed Tony Aitchison as their Key Accounts Manager. This new role will see Tony working with new and existing business and sharing the knowledge, experience and skills he gained through his years of working within the sports surfaces industry.

Tony graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1994 with an HND in Civil Engineering and went straight into a management scheme with the Charles Lawrence Group. In his 20+ years with the firm, he worked his way up to being a Regional Director for Construction. Over this period, Tony has developed a wealth of experience and respect within the sports surfaces industry and brings with him an unpresented depth of knowledge on all synthetic products available within the current market place.

Commenting on his appointment, Tony said, “I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with this new role at Replay. The existing team have some exciting ideas and a real passion to further develop Replay’s presence and outstanding service within the industry and I am very keen to be a part of that moving forwards.”

Replay Director Garry Martin added, “Tony is a well-known name in the industry and we’re delighted to now have his skill set and experience in the Replay portfolio. We are constantly looking to deepen our core knowledge so that we can evolve and enhance our service offering; Tony is exactly the type of appointment we need to enable this.”

In his spare time, Tony enjoys watching and participating in sports of all types including golf, football, cricket, badminton and winter pursuits.

Weed Killer Glyphosate Not Carcinogenic

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Glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto Co’s Roundup herbicide, should not be classified as a substance causing cancer, the European Chemical Agency concluded on Wednesday, potentially paving the way for its license renewal in the EU.

A transatlantic row over possible risks to human health has prompted investigations by congressional committees in the United States, and in Europe has forced a delay to a re-licensing decision for Monsanto’s big-selling Roundup weed killer.

Weighing in on the controversy, the EU body which regulates chemicals and biocides said it had considered extensive scientific data.

“This conclusion was based both on the human evidence and the weight of the evidence of all the animal studies reviewed,” Tim Bowmer, chairman of ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment, said in an online briefing.

The European Commission said it expected to restart talks with member states on re-approving the use of glyphosate in herbicides after receiving the formal opinion from ECHA, which is expected by August.

A decision would be taken within six months after that or by the end of 2017 at “at the latest”, a Commission spokesman said.

Pending the results of the study, the EU granted an 18-month extension last July of its approval for the weed killer after a proposal for full license renewal met opposition from member states and campaign groups.

Accusing EU nations of hiding behind Brussels and failing to take an open stance on controversial issues such as glyphosate and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the Commission also proposed changes to its decision-making process.

“It’s up to the Commission now,” said Jack de Bruijn, ECHA’s Director of Risk Management. “We are confident that indeed we have no issue at all in terms of the transparency and independence of this opinion.”

While the WHO’s cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), classifies glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic”, many other government regulators, including the United States, see the weed killer as unlikely to pose a cancer risk to humans.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA), which has found that glyphosate is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans”, welcomed ECHA’s opinion on Wednesday, as did lobby groups for farmers, who make wide use of products containing glyphosate.

But Greenpeace’s Franziska Achterberg said in a statement: “The data vastly exceeds what’s legally necessary for the EU to ban glyphosate, but ECHA has looked the other way.”

According to data published by IARC, glyphosate was registered in over 130 countries as of 2010 and is one of the world’s most heavily used weed killers.

Analysts have estimated that Monsanto could lose out on up to $100 million of sales if glyphosate were banned in Europe.

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MM60 – The Number One Choice For The Eagles

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Bruce Elliot, head of grounds and estates at Crystal Palace FC, has revealed that Limagrain’s MM60 is his preferred choice of winter sports grass seed.

It is safe to say that Crystal Palace have acquired an extremely experienced groundsman in Bruce. Having started his professional career at Fulham FC, Bruce went on to work for Tottenham FC, Millwall FC and Reading FC before returning for a second spell as head groundsman at Fulham. After a brief period away from groundsmanship, in which he actually worked for Limagrain UK, Bruce found that he simply couldn’t keep away from the job when the Palace opportunity came calling.

Throughout his illustrious career, he has always relied on one brand of grass seed and when Bruce joined Palace in July 2015 he was keen to stick to what he knew has always delivered him excellent results.

“I’ve used Limagrain’s MM60 throughout my professional career,” says Bruce. “It’s because I know what I’m going to get with it – for years it has been the number one winter sports mix.
“When I first started at the club, a new Desso pitch had just been installed, and it was sown with a grass seed which was the contractor’s preferred mix. However, when the opportunity came along I over-sowed with MM60 that season and then used it in the renovations at the start of this season. That’s nothing against the old grass seed mixture that was used – it’s just that MM60 is my preferred mix.”

Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed is renowned for producing an excellent playing surface in a stadium environment. It is a 100% Ryegrass formula which is perfect for renovation and divot repair, has a high disease resistance, fantastic aesthetic qualities and offers extremely fast germination – which is boosted by the inclusion of Headstart GOLD®.

Developed using the latest scientific findings and field experience, Headstart GOLD® is a natural revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.

Varieties in the MM mixtures are also thoroughly tested at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) as part of the BSPB turfgrass trials, which is something that Bruce believes offers a great insight into the mix.

“What I like about the MM60 is that if you look into the cultivars there is a similarity between them in the ratings in the STRI handbook. All the cultivars in the mix have the same sort of wear resistance, recovery levels and same colour rather than different shades of green. We want an even product rather than having highs and lows within the difference of the cultivars – Limagrain has always provided me with a consistent product.”

Having worked at Limagrain, his continued use of MM60 is perhaps testament to just how good the mix is. Bruce also has inside knowledge of just how dedicated the Limagrain staff are to each and every client.

“Limagrain’s outstanding customer service is just all part of the overall package and having worked for the company I know that the back-up at head office is excellent. Someone is always available if I need to talk to them and they always offer first-class technical advice.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.limagrain.co.uk

Tiernan Crawford Wins Student Greenkeeper of the Year

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Tiernan Crawford has been announced as the ICL and Syngenta Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award 2017 winner.

The young greenkeeper, who works at Beech Park Golf Club in Dublin, was crowned Student Greenkeeper of the Year after participating in the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board(KWETB) Greenkeeping Training Course which is run at Naas Golf Club in Kerdiffstown, County Kildare.

The course leads to a QQI Level 4 Horticulture Award specialising in Greenkeeping and the students embark on key modules such as Establishing Turfgrass, Horticultural Science, Plant Identification Care and Maintenance, Safe Horticultural Practice and Establishing Trees and Shrubs.

Over a period of 48 weeks, and under the watchful eyes of Aisling Mahon, Course Coordinator and David Perdisatt, Assistant Course Coordinator, student greenkeepers from all over Ireland participate in the theory modules while at the same time gaining hands on practical greenkeeping experience at a number of golf courses.

At the end of the challenging course, just one participant is selected as the overall Student of the Year. Tiernan, whose mentor at Beech Park is David Callanan – Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS), performed excellently throughout the course demonstrating a high standard of both academic abilities and practical skills.

Since its establishment eleven years ago, the course has gone from strength to strength and is now widely recognised as opening a number of doors for aspiring greenkeepers such as employment, further education and even oversees internships. In fact, many participants have gone to gain valuable experience at prestigious golf courses such as Bay Hill and Pebble Beach in Ohio, USA.

ICL and Syngenta have been proud sponsors of the course for a number of years now and the event is just one of many they support as they continue to demonstrate their commitment to education within the turf care sector.
Colman Warde, ICL’s Country Manager for Ireland, who presented Tiernan with his award said: “We are absolutely delighted to be supporting this fantastic course. It has run for a number of years now and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

“Both ICL and Syngenta are absolutely committed to nurturing the future of greenkeeping where we can and will continue to play our part in enhancing education at every opportunity. These hard-working young greenkeepers are the future and are highly important to not only us but the industry as a whole.”

For further information, please contact ICL on 01473 237100. Visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

To make any enquiries about the Greenkeeping Training Course please emailgreenkeepingcourse@gmail.com

Rostov banned from playing at home until state of pitch improves

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The Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) has banned Rostov from playing on the pitch at their Olimp-2 stadium until the state of the surface improves.

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho complained about the playing surface ahead of his side’s 1-1 Europa League draw at Rostov last week.

Mourinho said UEFA had dismissed his complaints that the pitch was dangerous, but the RFPL committee that oversees pitches in the league has since deemed the surface to be unacceptable.

The RFPL said in a statement that Rostov will not be able to play at their Olimp-2 stadium until the pitch meets its playing surface standards.

Fellow Russian side Rubin Kazan have also been handed down the same punishment.

Mourinho said of Rostov’s pitch last week: “It’s still hard for me to believe that we are going to play [there]. I know that we have to, but it is hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field — if you can call it a field.”

Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants also said before last week’s Europa League round-of-16 first leg that the pitch would pose United a “problem.”

To read the original article, click here