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Suståne provides the organic solution

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Suståne provides the organic solution: Organic solutions to plant nutrition and soil management are becoming an ever-increasing choice at leading sports facilities around the globe, as attention turns to both the impacts of more traditional chemicals and the benefits to the environment of more natural approaches.

Built on over 40 years of research, Suståne Natural Fertiliser has one of the largest ranges of organic-based fertilisers and soil builders developed for all landscape and turf applications.

Suståne provides the organic solution

Suståne provides the organic solution

Suståne is the most comprehensively researched organic fertiliser brand available in today’s market. Over 800 independent studies have been conducted in areas including turf establishment, disease suppression, environmental impact, effects on wildlife and soil improvement – the result of this research is a biologically-active, organic product range built for agronomic performance. Suståne’s aerobic, thermophilic composting process is the most environmentally sound method for recycling of agricultural residue, generating no methane and fewer greenhouse gases than other organic stabilisation processes. With the manufacturing impact on the environment low, the benefits of Suståne to the landscape are many.

Through the unique process, the organic feedstock is concentrated into a nutrient rich humus – rich in microbial diversity yet low in biological oxygen demand. Suståne’s microbial diversity index of 4.5 is critical to many soil and plant functions, providing optimal microbiology for plants to thrive. The release of nitrogen is slow, predictable and efficient, reducing loss to the environment through volatilisation, leaching or immobilisation and provides a long-lasting, sustainable source of plant nutrition and soil improvements.

There are formulations within the Suståne range suitable for every turf type and agronomic application, from 100% organic to higher nitrogen natural-base formulations, each with unique release rates and nutrient profiles. New to the range in 2021 is Suståne Soil Regen® – a soil amendment product formulated to improve soil structure by increasing infiltration rates and the profiles’ ability to hold nutrients and moisture.

The Suståne range is available through a network of approved distributors globally, with dedicated Regional Managers on hand to provide tailored, technical advice.

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Weed expert praises Roundup ProVantage

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Weed expert praises Roundup ProVantage: Ian Adamson from Complete Weed Control has praised the consistently good results he achieves from Roundup ProVantage.

Ian has managed the Tyne & Wear area for almost 20-years. He holds a BASIS certificate in crop protection and is a certificated surveyor in Japanese Knotweed. It is safe to say he knows his weeds and how to treat them.

Weed expert praises Roundup ProVantage

Weed expert praises Roundup ProVantage

“I have used Roundup as a brand for the whole of my career,” he said. “In particular, I have relied on ProVantage for the last three years. I choose this over other brands and products purely because I get such good results.”

As Ian says, Roundup ProVantage – a glyphosate-based herbicide, sets the standards in weed control and is renowned for its top performance. The optimised blend of surfactants as well as the high loading makes Roundup ProVantage the most advanced amenity glyphosate on the market.

Roundup ProVantage offers superior performance – with improved rain-fastness and speed of uptake. Rainfast in just one hour for annuals, this product reduces the risk of run off and ensures the maximum amount of glyphosate reaches the roots for the optimum effectiveness.

The effectiveness of Roundup ProVantage herbicide, and its favourable environmental characteristics, have combined to make it one of the most widely used and trusted herbicides in the world.

“I tend to use it on a variety of sites such as highways, central reservations, verges, pavements and industrial sites,” continued Ian. “Depending on the site and the severity, I would normally look to apply it two or three times with a period of six to eight weeks between each application. This year I am intending to use ProVantage as a convenience tank mix with ICL’s LockStar, this will offer me both knockdown and long-term residual control.

“Throughout the summer we see great results within just a week, but it is also effective in cooler weather” This year, for example, I did a job in February when the temperatures were still very low, and within 3 weeks the Roundup ProVantage had achieved a total kill.

“Another huge benefit of ProVantage is that it is a 480 concentration instead of 360 so there are 25% less packaging materials to dispose of. For me that is a big selling point”

“We will continue to use and promote the use of Roundup ProVantage as it is a premium product and I’m very happy with the results” Ian concludes Roundup ProVantage is distributed in the UK by ICL.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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9 year old launches mowing business

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9 year old launches mowing business: A nine-year-old from Kent has launched his own lawn mowing business so he can save up to become a tree surgeon.

Read the full article from KentOnline here

9 year old launches mowing business

9 year old launches mowing business

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T H WHITE completes acquisition

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T H WHITE completes acquisition: T H WHITE Group has now completed the acquisition of Murley Agricultural Supplies Ltd, including its Agriculture, Construction, Garden Machinery & Smallholders & Estates operations at Warwick and Stourport. Murley’s Vehicle business is not part of this acquisition.

Combining Murley’s impressive track record in its trading sectors with the resources of T H WHITE – which has been in business since 1832 – will facilitate ever-increasing levels of customer service and support. For staff and customers it’s really business as usual, with just a name change above the door.

T H WHITE completes acquisition

T H WHITE completes acquisition

At the Warwick branch Murley’s Agricultural operations now trade as T H WHITE Agriculture and the Garden Machinery side of the business will continue under the T H WHITE Country Store & Garden Machinery brand. At the Stourport branch Murley’s Construction operations now trade as T H WHITE Construction and the agricultural business now trades as T H WHITE Agriculture, as at Warwick.

The deal means that T H WHITE’s trading territory for New Holland, Manitou and other leading agricultural brands has now been expanded to embrace Warwickshire and Worcestershire, while the Doosan construction machinery franchise at Stourport has been added to T H WHITE’s existing construction offering from Manitou, New Holland and Mecalac.

The new T H WHITE branches are located at: Nelson Lane Sandy Lane Industrial Estate Warwick Titton

Warwickshire                              Stourport-on-Severn
CV34 5JB                                     Worcestershire DY13 9QB
01926 494336                             01299 827002

Opening hours remain the same and all the familiar faces will be there to help customers make the best choices for their business from an extensive stock of equipment and genuine parts. Added to that, customers will now be able to benefit from the businesses being part of a larger group that has built its reputation on helping people get the best from their machinery, land and buildings, across generations.

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Ventrac package for Leicester training centre

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Ventrac package for Leicester training centre: Leicester City Football Club, last season’s FA Cup winners, is the latest organisation to appreciate the multiple benefits of Ventrac.

Delivered by local dealer, Farols, the package included a Ventrac 4500 all-terrain compact tractor in dual-wheel configuration, a Contour mowing deck, Trencher and Power Broom and will be used to maintain their new world-class training centre of at Seagrave in Leicestershire.

Ventrac package for Leicester training centre

Ventrac package for Leicester training centre

Following a demonstration earlier this year and with input from his team, John Ledwidge, Head of Sports Turf and Grounds at the Premier League club, specified the purchase.  He is an integral part of the team that has developed the world-class training facility, where he oversees the management and development of the 180-acre site. This includes the equivalent of 14 turf pitches, synthetic pitches, a 9-hole golf course and the world’s first dedicated Sports Turf Academy.

Commenting on the latest addition to the machinery fleet, he said,

“Our owner is passionate about this football club and the community we share. He wants the very best and this facility demonstrates that commitment. We all share his vision and our aim is to make this the premier training centre in Europe.

“To be fair, we took a lot of our inspiration from the exceptional job Darren Baldwin has done at Tottenham’s facility, where we first saw the Ventrac in action during the research phase of the plan. I’d also seen it at various trade fairs and in the media. We needed a machine that was highly versatile, that can help us here improve a site that’s going to be constantly evolving over the next five years.

“The Contour deck helps us maintain the numerous banks and sloped areas around the complex, including ‘Mount Vardy’, the nickname we’ve given to a landscaped area of unused spoil from the original build. It is also used on the golf course where its articulated design prevents scalping. We’ve used the Trencher to insert drainage bands in some particularly wet areas of the golf course and the Power Broom does a great job on the pathways and carparks. It’s all about quality presentation and the versatility of the Ventrac helps us achieve the high standards demanded here.”

Chris Minton is the club’s Head Mechanic, supervising a team of three in the state-of-the-art Maintenance Facility located within the Sports Turf Academy building. Commenting on the Ventrac he said, “It’s a very good and impressive piece of kit; robustly constructed and powerful, considering it has a sub-25 hp engine. It’s simple to work on, all the belts are easily accessible as are the greasing points and the flip-up decks make our job easier when we need to access the blades or blade spindles. Definitely a very good addition to our fleet.”

John Ledwidge’s career

John began his career in 2002 as an apprentice groundsman at Coventry City where, at the tender age of 19, he was promoted to Deputy Head Groundsman. In 2008 he was appointed Assistant Grounds Manager at Aston Villa and 18 months later returned to Coventry to take up the Head Groundsman role, where he was responsible for directing pitch preparations for the London 2012 Olympics at the City of Coventry Stadium (now the Ricoh Arena).

Following the much-publicised issues at Coventry during this time, he then joined Ricoh Arena in the role of Grounds Manager and in 2014 was successful when he applied for Head Groundsman’s position at Leicester City. In 2016 he was promoted to Grounds Manager and then in July 2019 he took up his current role as Head of Sports Turf and Grounds, where he leads a team of 52 staff working across multiple sites and is actively involved in the ongoing development and investment in the class-leading sports turf surfaces at the club.

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