Milestones For Hunts Engineering

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Milestones For Hunts Engineering: Hunts Engineering Ltd is celebrating a double milestone this year after reaching its 10th anniversary in business and also its first year working in partnership with Kubota UK.

To celebrate these key milestones, the Midlands-based tractor and groundcare dealer recently held a special two-day event at its premises in Shipton-on-Stour, welcoming over 250 customers through its doors.

Milestones For Hunts Engineering

Visitors to the open days had the opportunity to see Kubota’s complete range of market leading groundcare solutions, with machinery experts from Hunts Engineering and Kubota UK on-hand to help and answer any questions and queries. A number of live demonstrations also took place across the two-day event, giving visitors the chance to see the machines in action.

Kubota UK’s partnership with Hunts Engineering is going from strength to strength since the two joined forces in 2017. For Hunts Engineering, it has enabled the business to target a much wider customer base.

Hunt’s Engineering’s latest partnership with Kubota UK has helped it to further target the commercial arena, allowing Hunts Engineering to supply machinery to commercial landscapers, local authorities and grounds maintenance professionals across Shipston and spanning a 20-mile radius including Banbury, Chipping Norton and Stratford.

For the first time, Hunts Engineering now supplies UTVs, sub-compact tractors and ride-on mowers through Kubota’s diverse product portfolio. This includes Kubota’s rugged RTV400, RTV500, RTV-X900 and RTV-X1140 utility vehicles, its new BX231, B Series and L1361 sub-compact tractors, and its high performance ride-on mowers, such as the GR Series and ZD122R.

Peter Hunt, Managing Director at Hunts Engineering Ltd, said: “As a family-run business, we are delighted to be celebrating our ten-year anniversary, whilst also marking our one-year milestone as a Kubota dealer.

“Becoming a Kubota groundcare dealer has enabled us to take the business to a new level, securing a breadth of both residential and commercial clients. Whilst its product range is second to none, Kubota’s commitment to aftersales and service also reflects our own dedication to servicing and parts, which remains very much at the core of our success.”

Having been an agricultural engineer for a number of years before launching the business with his wife, Julie, Hunts Engineering boasts a first class workshop and team of Kubota trained engineers who hold over 80 years of servicing experience between them.

Adrian Langmead, Groundcare Business Development Manager, added: “Over the last year we have seen significant growth through our partnership with Hunts Engineering. Our dealer network is vital to our continued growth and success, so having such a dedicated and committed dealership representing our product range, whilst also providing excellent aftersales service, is a fantastic extension of our brand. We look forward to continued success for many years to come.”

For more information on Kubota and its service solutions for the groundcare sector visit www.kubota.co.uk or call 01844 268000.

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Headland Bring Greens Back To Life

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Headland Bring Greens Back To Life: Over the autumn and winter of 2016/17, Basingstoke’s Test Valley Golf Club was hit with a serious Fusarium attack which left their greens weakened and scar damaged. Course Manager Dave Ross turned to Alex Hawkes of Headland Amenity to help with the creation of a recovery programme – applied it at the right time to maximise the results by using the Headland WeatherCheck service.

“Looking back at it now, the greens didn’t go into the period as strong as they should have been, leaving them vulnerable to disease” explains Dave, who heads up a team of 4 greenkeepers. “It was clear the damage from the Fusarium attack was extensive so I asked Alex for advice to put together a recovery plan, to try and give the greens a kick start into spring.” Alex recommended C-Complex 5-2-10, an organic mineral fertiliser capable of working in low temperatures making it an ideal spring starter.

Headland Bring Greens Back To Life

Alex explains, “I told Dave how C-Complex could provide a burst of early growth, which could help to grow the disease scars back in. However, to give it the best chance, I consulted the WeatherCheck service to find the optimum window of opportunity. As this was February, I was not overly hopeful however I could see there was an uplift in ‘Growth Potential’ imminent so we organised a next day delivery of the product for Dave to apply – the products performance, coupled with the window of increased soil temperatures, delivered amazing results and gave the greens the kick start they needed moving into the main playing season.”

“It was a new product to us” says Dave, “but it did exactly what Alex said it would.” Following this, between April and September they’ve had success on the greens with a programme of Seamac Ultra Plus, C-Complex and TeMag Elite. “We’ve also kept an eye on the ‘Evapotranspiration’ module on WeatherCheck which gives us an idea of when the greens are likely to experience drought stress. Using this information, we have been using TriCure Granular as a pre-emptive stress reliever on the driest areas, again to great effect.”

Headland’s WeatherCheck is a customer and postcode weather service which features a general 7- day forecast, as well as detailed 3-hourly, daily weather forecasts showing predicted rainfall, expected wind strength and precipitation probability. It also contains many specific agronomic modules, facilitating the turf manager to take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to programmes and applications.

For more information, visit: www.headlandamenity.com

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Bayer’s New Total Herbicide

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Bayer’s New Total Herbicide: A new pre and early post-emergence total herbicide, for controlling annual and perennial weeds, has been released by Bayer into the Irish market, and is now available to purchase.

Pistol® Flex brings a new active ingredient, to the market for broad spectrum control over a wide range of uses including treatments applied to open soil, gravel surfaces, fence lines, industrial areas and railway ballast.

Bayer's New Total Herbicide

Greg Collins, of the Bayer Turf Solutions Team, explains that the herbicide’s dual active formulation contains 360g/kg diflufenican and 10g/kg iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium.

“This gives a two-pronged approach to weed control, targeting germinating seedlings through residual action, and the leaves on contact.

“The product provides excellent control for even the hardest to tackle weeds and is also compatible for use under a variety of tree and shrub species.”

Resistance management

Greg adds that using Pistol® Flex can help amenity contractors to minimise resistance as part of an integrated vegetation management (IVM) programme.

“The combined active ingredients give a dual mode of action and therefore reduce the chance of resistance occurring.

Flexible applications

“The herbicide can be used flexibly, as a standalone application on bare ground for pre-emergence stages. Alternatively, after the two leaf post emergence stage it can be mixed with glyphosate to enhance performance.

“And due to this robust performance in different environments, the product offers good residual control for three to four months, which may save the operator returning for repeated applications,” says Greg.

Pistol® Flex is available to purchase from Unichem and Sprayclear Environmental and is supplied in convenient 10g sachets to easily add into a knapsack or 500g packs for those that need to treat a larger area.

For more information visit: www.environmentalscience.bayer.co.uk  or contact the Turf Solutions Team at turfsolutions@bayer.com

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Don’t Get Held Hosta(ge) By Slugs

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Don’t Get Held Hosta(ge) By Slugs: Hostas are loved by many gardeners, as they have the most amazing foliage that can offer both dense ground cover and interesting structure to pots. They are resilient and easy to grow, thriving especially well in light to medium shade. They also often have beautiful fragrant flowers, making them a real asset to any garden.  

Growing hostas is easy, as they do not require much fussing, and will grow on any fertile, moisture-retentive garden soil. A bit of organic matter can be added to soil where there is not much shade and the earth is dry, but once they have fully established, after around five years, they will need little to no interference from the gardener.

Don’t Get Held Hosta(ge) By Slugs

The main problem, as any gardener will agree, when it comes to hostas, is the fact that slugs adore them. They can be entirely decimated early on in the season if preventative measures are not taken.

A great, and easy, way to make sure that your hostas are protected, is by watering on nematodes. As nematodes are able to travel through the soil, to where the newly hatched and young slugs dwell, they are able to attack them before they are even in sight, unlike slug pellets. A regular regime of using Nemaslug every six weeks is the most effective way to keep slugs at bay throughout the growing season, and will help to ensure that your hostas survive another year!

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Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay

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Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay: The Football Development Centre at Flegg High Ormiston Academy in Norfolk, known as the FDC @ Flegg, is one of three facilities run by Norfolk County FA. Elliot Pride, the FDC @ Flegg Development Officer oversees the full size 3G pitch at the site, managing everything from accounts, bookings and even getting hands on with maintaining the pitch. Assisting Elliot in keeping the surface looking and playing at its best are synthetic specialists Replay Maintenance.

“I’ve been here since we opened the facility 18 months ago and in that time, we’ve made great strides in getting the local community involved with football” explains Elliot. Term-time the pitch is used in school hours by the pupils, then at evenings, weekends and during school holidays Norfolk FA take over offering pay & play, walking football, County 5IVES and a range of pitch hire slots. “We’re lucky to be supported by a number of local clubs who use the pitch for training and matches. The pitch see’s roughly 25-30 hours of play per week, with that figure increasing year on year.”

Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay

A County Partner to Norfolk FA, Replay have been involved with the maintenance of the FDC’s since the original facility opened in Norwich eight years ago. “We were pleased with the work and results achieved with Replay there, when the installer-provided maintenance expired on the Flegg pitch we decided to formulate a contract with them to maintain all three centres.” The service agreement see’s Replay conducting six Revive® visits per year to remove contaminates and de-compact and rotate the infill which is then regraded and dressed back into the surface. This results in enhanced porosity and improved playing characteristics.

“Communication with Replay is great. I have a calendar showing the planned visits for the coming year which gives me plenty of notice to liaise with the school to ensure the pitch is free. On visit days, the operators are normally here by the time I arrive at 8am, getting on with the job and are normally away by midday. Following the visit, we then get a report detailing the work conducted, infill levels etc. We also receive weekly emails to submit our hours of play which then generates an ‘actual hours’ figure, from which we can work out how many hours of in-house maintenance we need to conduct.”

Final word from Elliot, “It’s great to have Replay in conducting a deeper clean every couple of months, topping up the brushing and debris collecting we do ourselves. Although the surface is relatively new, it’s important to consider that they only have a limited lifespan so working hard now to keep the pitch in good condition, should help to keep it safe and playable for years to come.”

For more information, visit: www.replaymaintenance.co.uk

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Irrigation Control Helps Burnley

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Irrigation Control Helps Burnley: Burnley FC’s Gawthorpe Training Centre has reached its next stage of development with a Desso Grassmaster pitch, reconstructed by J Mallinson (Ormskirk) and irrigation by Irrigation Control. These companies have been exclusive contractors at the club’s Turf Moor stadium and at Gawthorpe since 2005 when there was just the one self-contained training pitch featuring Rain Bird’s in-turf pop up and perimeter sprinklers, irrigation control system, pumping station and water storage.

In 2010 Turf Moor underwent a pitch reconstruction and the opportunity was taken to introduce a Rain Bird irrigation system. 2014 saw an expansion of the training facilities with a new pump house and Rain Bird control system at the heart and the Barnfield Training Centre, opened in 2017.

Irrigation Control Helps Burnley

The new top pitch has 20 Rain Bird perimeter sprinklers and in-turf rotors. It has been integrated into Gawthorpe’s site wide irrigation system with the aim of providing water to any given pitch in the quickest time at lowest cost. This considers different surface types, sheltered or exposed areas, wind speeds, rainfall, sunlight and evapotranspiration rates.

Rain Bird control system’s cycle is based on calculations for the whole Gawthorpe site. Irrigation is overnight when temperatures and wind speeds are lowest and evapotranspiration rates are low. Through its laptop interface, the control system gives the information that groundstaff need. Ultimately it decides which sprinklers should be turned on/off, what irrigation flows need to be delivered to specified pitches  at maximum efficiency.

Rain Bird 8005 in-turf rotor sprinklers and 950E valve-in-head perimeter sprinklers are used throughout Gawthorpe in addition to the Single Site Control System with evapotranspiration based scheduling, customised graphics and mapping. “We specify Rain Bird because of product quality and reliability. We are impressed with the technological advances developed for the sports turf market over recent years,” says Lee Knight, Contracts Director, Irrigation Control.

With wi-fi, Groundsman Barry O’Brien and his team can interact remotely with the control system via a smart phone App and can upgrade to a Rain Bird weather station. Mapping functionality gives a visual site-wide overview of the irrigation system. Irrigation Control has also installed Thermaturf undersoil heating to the Gawthorpe match pitch.

Originally irrigation was required for turf health and to ensure the best growing conditions for soil based pitches. Now it is also about creating conditions on different surfaces that coaches require such as a quick slick surface or a pitch with a match day feel so extra irrigation may be immediately needed.

“We enjoy long term relationships with our pitch and irrigation system suppliers. An understanding of what we are trying to achieve and familiarity with the site is vital. The continuity gives us peace of mind, “says Groundsman Barry O’Brien.

For more information, visit: www.irrigationcontrol.co.uk

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award: The winner of the 2018 Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, sponsored by ICL and Syngenta, has been confirmed as Rody Kilbride from Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.

For a number of years, ICL and Syngenta have been proud sponsors of the Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award – which is part of the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board’s (KWETB) Greenkeeping Training Course.

Rody Kilbride Wins Award

Colman Warde, ICL Country Manager for Ireland presented Rody with his trophy and a gift voucher at Naas Golf Club, Co Kildare said: “As a company we are very proud to continue our sponsorship of this award. The training course is a fantastic opportunity which helps prepare the students for a promising future in this industry. It was great to present the award to Rody, who is a good example of enthusiastic, young greenkeepers. It’s good to see so many students interested in this course because they are the future of the industry.”

“Aisling does a tremendous job arranging the course and it’s great to see the likes of David Behan from Naas Golf Club, David Callanan from Beech Park Golf Club, Mark Kirwan from the Heritage Golf Club and Tom Carew from Craddockstown put so much time and effort into helping train these students” commented Colman.

For the duration of the 48 week course Rody was placed at Beech Park Golf Club under the watchful eye of Course Superintendent David Callanan. With the student course now complete Rody has successfully gained a full-time greenkeepers job at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Course in Co Limerick, with the newly redeveloped course, designed by Tom Fazio, due to open in April 2018.

Now in its twelfth year, the course continues to go from strength to strength, which is testament to the hard work and meticulous planning carried out by Aisling Mahon, course co-ordinator who’s commitment to nurturing the future of greenkeeping has ensured the success of the course. Aisling is delighted to have seen the course open a number of doors for aspiring greenkeepers, including full time employment, further education and oversees internships at prestigious golf courses such as Bay Hill and Pebble Beach in Ohio, USA.

Last year’s winner, Tiernan Crawford, impressed Naas Golf Club so much throughout the duration of the course that he was offered a full time greenkeeping position. He has been working in this role for the past year and is now moving to Beech Park Golf Club – a position which commences in just a couple of weeks. He intends on furthering his education and will be studying Sportsturf Science Level 6 in September 2019.

William Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2016 award, has been busy working and continuing his studies as well as becoming a first-time father. He is working full-time at Portarlington Golf Club and has just recently graduated from Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin where he studied Sportsturf Science. William has also volunteered at a number of tournaments and is working hard to progress within the industry.

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

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

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No Repeat Of Glyphosate Saga

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No Repeat Of Glyphosate Saga: There will not be a repeat of the Glyphosate saga, promises EU’s new committee on authorisation of pesticides.

The new special committee on pesticides started looking into the EU authorisation procedure during its first working meeting on 12 April.

No Repeat Of Glyphosate Saga

MEPs discussed the state of play of the procedure with European Food Safety Authority executive director Bernhard Url and the European Commission.

Committee chair Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) said: “We must dare to do everything and not forbid ourselves on this real question of society: we are talking about the health of 500 million Europeans, 42% of foods are identified without pesticides… the margin is large.

“In December, when we will vote on our report, we will have to make a commitment to citizens that the food they eat and the air they breathe are not dangerous to their health.

“Our Special Committee must lay the foundations for new practices guaranteeing transparency and independence. Above all, it must restore citizens’ confidence in the European process.”

Co-rapporteur Bart Staes (Greens/EFA, Belgium) said: “This new committee gives us the opportunity to delve into the work of the different European and national agencies, the quality of the evidence used, the role of industry and the independence and transparency of the entire evaluation process.

“Protection of public health and the environment must be at the heart of EU decisions. We want to make sure there can no re-run of the glyphosate saga”

The EU re-authorised glyphosate for five years in November amid controversy around carcinogen claims.

“The re-authorisation of glyphosate highlighted some serious problems with the current process. We will now examine the evidence in detail and come forward with recommendations to make sure that the authorisation procedure for pesticides as a whole is fit for purpose, so that future decisions are fully transparent and respect the relevant EU regulation” Staes said.

Co-rapporteur Norbert Lins (EPP, Germany) said: “The main goal of the PEST-committee is to look at the authorisation procedure from every angle and to identify possible improvements based on a scientific approach.

“The Commission and EFSA gave us a good overview about the current legislation which was a good start to understand the process. Nevertheless we will need more input from all stakeholders, to see how the theory works in practice. It is of particular interest for me to put an effective and efficient process in place which does not only focus on transparency but ensures safety for environment and health and strengthens innovation” he added.

The special committee will hold its next meeting on the 26th of April.

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Toro MVP Kits Increase Uptime

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Toro MVP Kits Increase Uptime: Greenkeepers, workshop technicians and mechanics can prevent maintenance headaches in the season ahead with Toro’s MVP kits.

 As the grass growing season gets into full swing and your fleet’s workload increases, the last thing needed is extended machinery downtime and unexpected maintenance costs. This is a situation that can be avoided with Toro’s MVP (maintenance value performance) kits.

Toro MVP kits Increase Uptime

With an individual kit for blades, roller rebuilding, cutting unit overhauling, seals, and blades and belts, whichever kit you go for, one thing guaranteed is that you will have all the genuine Toro parts needed to quickly get your turfcare machinery working again.

So, instead of spending valuable time sourcing individual parts as issues arise, greenkeepers can purchase Toro MVP kits in one convenient box that comes with the added benefit of saving up to 20 percent in repair expenses.

Michael Hampton, Reesink Turfcare parts manager, comments: “As we all know, time is of the essence for greenkeeping teams in the summer and machines are worked hard to keep turf in play and in immaculate condition. Owning an MVP kit means no longer being caught out by a machine in need of care, as you will be prepared with every part needed to quickly get your turfcare machinery back into action.”

Instructions give advice on when to perform specific maintenance tasks depending on the model and the number of hours of use, helping prevent running machines into the ground and incurring unnecessary costs to repair them.

Michael continues: “Keeping turf in premium condition is rightly at the forefront of greenkeepers’ minds, with constantly high-performing machines being the means of achieving this and downtime being a possible obstacle. Toro’s MVP kits enable you to react and resolve maintenance or repair issues immediately, keeping uptime at an all-time high.”

Added to this, if used to perform regular maintenance, MVP kits keep cost of ownership low and allow for more accurate forecasting when setting budget aside for parts and servicing.

Investing in Toro MVP kits is, says Reesink Turfcare, a wise decision.

For more information contact distributor Reesink’s Toro parts department on 01480 226800, go to reesinkturfcare.co.uk, or visit your local dealer.

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Pellenc’s Factory Award

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Pellenc’s Factory Award: After transforming its state of the art factory in Pertuis, France, the Pellenc group has been presented with the Industry Showcase of the Future award.

Since the Pellenc group was created in 1973, the company has based its development on a policy of constant innovation. The group’s ability to be able to anticipate changes in its markets has led to the registering of 1081 patents – winning numerous awards for the excellence of its products.

 

A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology, Pellenc has established itself in the “Zero Emission” professional power tools market. The company has seen rapid growth since 1973 and in just the last five years Pellenc has doubled its turnover. With a policy of investing 10% of its turnover back into research and development, the group is committed to continually developing its industrial processes and this led to the transformation of its factory.

Pellenc’s factory transformation objectives were to not only improve operations but also to enhance the working conditions for employees – increasing their safety and optimising the comfort of the workstations.

The transformation of the plant has already proved to be hugely beneficial. Assembly times have been significantly reduced, while service rates in the workshops and production line areas have also been greatly improved. In turn, the teams involved feel better prepared and trained for the various stages of production.

Pierre-Antoine Barre, Pellenc Industrialisation Methods Manager was delighted to have achieved such large-scale objectives: “Transformation of the Pertuis site means that the Pellenc group’s capacity and industrial flexibility has grown, and the competitiveness of its product range has improved, building on French know-how, a symbol of industrial excellence and a source of employment reaching +7% a year.”

Pellenc's Factory Award

Aurélien Blanc, technical assistant in the portable power tools shop, offered a great insight from an employee’s point of view: “The changes in the plant have reduced movements needed and distances covered. They provide real improvements in ergonomics, productivity and quality of work.”

The Industry Showcase of the Future award is testament to the success of the factory transformation, but Pellenc refuses to rest on its laurels. There are many more factory projects planned for this year, including new innovations for the newly created areas, new workflow displays and automation systems.

Always seeking further improvements, the Pellenc group continues to innovate and it is no wonder that its products are spearheading the markets throughout Europe and beyond.

Pellenc products are exclusively distributed in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

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