Kubota and Broekman Logistics open new location

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Kubota and Broekman Logistics open new location: Kubota and Broekman Logistics opened a new distribution centre in Weert on Friday 14 April 2023. In the presence of the Japanese ambassador, a delegation from Kubota and Broekman Logistics performed the opening.

In the 62,000 m² state-of-the-art warehouse, Broekman Logistics facilitates storage, final assembly and also outbound logistics for Kubota Baumaschinen GmbH, part of Kubota Construction Machinery Division. Broekman Logistics also handles the Complete Knocked Down (CKD) of production parts from Weert to Kubota’s production plant in Zweibrucken (D).

Kubota and Broekman Logistics open new location

Kubota and Broekman Logistics open new location

Kubota and Broekman Logistics have been working together since 2006, initially from a European Distribution Centre (EDC) in Sittard. The entire operation moved to an existing Broekman location in Born in 2008, where a total of 40,000 m2 of new construction was built for Kubota. In good cooperation with Kubota, Broekman Logistics decided in 2019 to develop the new building location in Weert

Further efficiency
Further efficiency has been achieved in the new warehouse in Weert. The new set-up features an optimised layout of logistics and assembly operations, shortening lead times and facilitating future growth for Kubota. In addition, the building contributes to further sustainability, to which both parties attach great importance. For instance, large buffer tanks have been placed around the building to collect rainwater. Among other things, this is used for the green surroundings and the 100-year-old trees around the property.

Improving customer satisfaction
Toshitaka Matsuo, President of Kubota Baumaschinen GmbH, says: “The move to the new distribution centre in Weert is a big step forward for Kubota and symbolizes our partnership with Broekman Logistics. This expansion represents a significant investment of business activities and will not only help us further improve our current range of services, but also increase the satisfaction of dealers, distributors and ultimately, end customers. ”

Cherishable cooperation
Rik Pek, Managing Director Broekman Logistics: “The relationship with Kubota is very dear to us as a company, but also to me personally. After consecutive years of growth, it was time to further intensify our cooperation and provide Kubota with a state-of-the-art warehouse. I have been experiencing for years how well the values of our companies match. We are both very entrepreneurial, pay attention to people and value long-term relationships. We are very enthusiastic about the current cooperation with Kubota and look forward to continuing this in Weert.”

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Boss ORV and Corvus join forces with Carrs Billington

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Boss ORV and Corvus join forces with Carrs Billington: BOSS ORV has announced that Carr’s Billington Agriculture (Sales) Ltd. will represent Corvus Off-Road Vehicles from their Morpeth, Northumberland branch.

Carr’s Billington is a subsidiary of The Billington Group, which also owns English Provender Company, Billington Foods and Criddle & Co. The company came about as a result of the joint venture between Carr’s and Edward Billington & Son Ltd. Since the formation of the venture, the business has become a leading supplier of agricultural products in the UK.

Boss ORV and Corvus join forces with Carrs-Billington

Boss ORV and Corvus join forces with Carrs-Billington

“We’re delighted Carr’s Billington will represent Corvus from their Morpeth branch,” says Phil Everett, MD of BOSS ORV, the UK distributor of Corvus. “We’re excited to work with Dale Shaw, Mark Lodge, Graham Adamson, James Cowan and all the team at Morpeth to grow the Corvus brand in Northumberland and beyond.” He adds there will be more exciting Corvus/Carr’s Billington announcements soon.

The Corvus Terrain range of 4×4 side-by-side utility vehicles has been a fast-growing presence in the agricultural and groundcare markets since it was first launched in 2019. Corvus was the first European manufacturer to produce an off-road utility vehicle and the range now comprises diesel, petrol and electric versions of the Terrain.

“We are ideally placed to sell Corvus off-road vehicles in the North,” says Mark Lodge, ATV Brand Manager for Carr’s Billington Agriculture (Sales) Ltd. “We have the people, products and services to support our customers across a broad range of requirements and locations with retail, feed, machinery, fuel and service. There are 32 Carr’s BiIllington Country Stores throughout Northern England, Scotland and Wales, several of which have machinery sales and service departments. We are proud we can offer Corvus high-quality vehicles, sales and support in our area as part of the growing Corvus dealer network.”

For more information about the Corvus Terrain range, you can call 01785 561046 E-mail: sales@bossorv.co.uk Web: www.bossorv.co.uk

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Attraxor® is King of the Castle

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Attraxor® is King of the Castle: After Poa annua was disrupting play on the greens at Bothwell Castle Golf Club, the Head Greenkeeper found a solution in BASF’s Attraxor®, which was recommended and supplied by Agrovista Amenity.

Alan Boyd is the Head Greenkeeper at Bothwell Castle Golf Club in Lanarkshire – a flat 18-hole parkland course located in the woodland area surrounding the 13th century Bothwell Castle.

Attraxor® is King of the Castle

Attraxor® is King of the Castle

Alan explained how he first started using Attraxor®.

“Our greens are predominantly a Poa – bent mix. When the Poa is coming into bloom it starts causing issues with the ball swaying and the greens don’t run true. Ramsay MacGregor (Amenity Specialist for Agrovista Amenity) told me that Attraxor® reduces seedhead production in Poa and I was keen to give it a try.”

Attraxor® is a plant growth regulator containing the active substance, prohexadione calcium and can be used to regulate growth of all managed amenity turf. This active substance inhibits the gibberellic acid pathway, which results in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass. Root growth is promoted whilst turf colour and quality are maintained.

Furthermore, using an innovative formulation for fast leaf absorption, the product provides almost instant results, as it is activated once diluted in water. Contrary to other plant growth regulators that need to be activated by the plant enzymes, Attraxor® can be used earlier or later in the season during cooler weather.

Alan initially applied Attraxor® at a rate of 375 g/ha before increasing it to 800 g/ha and hasn’t looked back.

“You can build it up to that application rate or bring it back down – whatever you think is needed,” he said. “The results speak for themselves. Finer grasses have started coming through because the Poa is not overtaking. It is easy to use, easy to measure out and the granules easily disperse in the water. As a greenkeeper, our priority is to keep golfers happy and since using Attraxor®, the feedback on the surfaces over the past three seasons has been exceptional. They now have a consistent ball speed, and the ball isn’t swerving all over the Poa.”

Attraxor® is King of the Castle

Attraxor® is King of the Castle

In addition to supressing the Poa annua seed heads, Alan has reported some other positive findings.

“We spoke to some people from BASF and they shared with us the results from a golf club in another part of Europe with similar weather to us. They sprayed Attraxor® consistently throughout the year and noticed a reduction of disease. I was really interested in this because we do get hit with disease, but it has been getting better since we have been applying Attraxor®. BASF explained that as the regular use of Attraxor causes the thickening of plant cell walls and epidermis, it can lead to a reduced susceptibility to diseases such as Microdochium patch by mechanical means rather than by directly affecting the pathogen itself.

“If I carry on seeing a reduction in disease it will be a game changer because we are then not having to put down fungicides,” continued Alan. “We know the bad press fungicides are getting and you are saving money by not using them, so the money you are saving on the fungicide can be put into something else.

“In my opinion the future is bright.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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The science-backed solution to sustainable weed control

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The science-backed solution to sustainable weed control: The decision to reduce or eradicate the use of herbicides may be taken for many reasons, but with a wide range of alternatives available, how can facilities be assured that a non-chemical option is going to provide a viable solution?

To provide confidence, Foamstream has been the subject of numerous independently controlled studies conducted by the University of Pisa, University of Athens and Cornell University, together with The US Department of Natural Resources and the Austrian Institute of Technology – all of which highlight the comparable or superior performance of Foamstream when compared to glyphosate.

The science-backed solution to sustainable weed control

The science-backed solution to sustainable weed control

An ever-increasing body of evidence indicates the substantial negative impact on nature, human beings and the environment caused by the existing level of herbicide use. Factor in that the amount of herbicide-resistant weeds is also on the rise, and green space managers are potentially having to increase the number of spray operations they conduct in any given period. It is therefore not surprising that facilities from all corners of grounds and public space management are seeking safer and more sustainable solutions that can deliver effective weed and vegetation control without detriment to the operator and the environment.

The patented Foamstream process combines hot water and an organically-derived biodegradable foam, delivered through one of Weedingtech’s range of machines. The active ingredient is the hot water, with the foam acting as an ‘insulation blanket’, preventing the heat from escaping and keeping the water in the ‘kill zone’ (temperatures of 57o and above) for longer. The heat penetrates the waxy outer layer of the leaf, travels down the stem and into the roots – killing or severely damaging the plant and causing it to die. In addition to eradicating the plant, Foamstream also sterilises surrounding seeds and spores that haven’t yet germinated, helping to reduce future weed growth.

Since its launch in 2011, numerous high profile individual academic trials have been published citing the efficacy of Foamstream – one of the most recent, in 2022, being the University of Athens study which found that Foamstream reduced weed biomass by a rate between 81% and 96% compared to mulching, mowing, pelargonic acid and the untreated control, and, in-line with glyphosate, resulted in the lowest Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and weed biomass.

Leo de Montaignac, CEO of Weedingtech commented, “We understand that any investment in technology requires credible third-party evidence that shows organisations that they are making the right choice. That’s why we’ve always been keen for independent third parties to trial Foamstream in proper controlled environments. We’re delighted that the team at the Agricultural University of Athens took the time to comprehensively put Foamstream to the test against other methods of weed control and recognised its value. We’d welcome further research by any other interested universities and organisations to carry out further testing of our eco-friendly weed control technology in other settings.”

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BIGGA appoints dedicated project manager

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BIGGA appoints dedicated project manager: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has appointed an experienced project manager to oversee the implementation of the innovative First Green initiative and to create an online resource centre that will showcase careers in greenkeeping to a wide audience.

Jennifer Bledge has spent over a decade working in information governance roles within education. She is a former parent governor of Sandwich Infant School and is a qualified teacher. Jennifer also has experience of developing relationships with various stakeholders across education, which will prove vital as BIGGA seeks to engage with other organisations to successfully implement its outreach programme.

BIGGA appoints dedicated project manager

BIGGA appoints dedicated project manager

At BTME 2023 in January, BIGGA announced it would be adopting the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America’s (GCSAA) successful First Green initiative. First Green transforms golf courses into STEM classrooms and Jennifer will oversee the development of a UK-specific toolkit that will aid in the roll out of this scheme.

She will also lead in the development of a digital careers in greenkeeping resource centre that is aimed at school leavers, graduates, second careers and golfers. Supporting this, she will liaise with ex-military and public services careers services, the National Careers Service, various charities and universities with related degree courses.

Jennifer has an existing understanding of the greenkeeping industry as her husband James Bledge is Royal Liverpool Golf Club’s course manager and is preparing to host The Open in July this year.

BIGGA Chief Executive Officer Jim Croxton said: “The appointment of a workforce recruitment project manager for BIGGA stands to be one of the most important strategic decisions the association has made in some time. It represents a fundamental shift in how we approach the challenges our industry faces and I hope gives confidence to our members that we are aware of the various issues relating to staff welfare, recruitment and retention and are addressing these head on.

“Jennifer was the outstanding candidate for this role and given her decades of experience working within education, I am thrilled she has joined the team. I look forward to sharing updates about the various projects she will be working on in the coming years with our members and the wider golfing public. There is a long way to go, but with the appointment of a talented project manager in Jennifer, I am confident we have taken a vital first step.”

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