Ventana LLC ready to elevate brands

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Ventana LLC ready to elevate brands: Leading Middle Eastern golf cart and machinery dealer, Ventana LLC, are ready to elevate the E-Z-GO, Jacobsen and Cushman brands after announcing a new partnership with Textron Specialized Vehicles.

The company has already impressed Textron following their work with the Ransomes portfolio, making them the leading candidates to drive these three industry leading brands forward in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Ventana LLC ready to elevate brands

Ventana LLC ready to elevate brands

Ventana LLC is a subsidiary of Tanseeq Investment Group of companies – one of the largest golf and landscape-based groups in the Middle East, with headquarters in Dubai, UAE. The group recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and with the successful construction of three major golf courses, it has established itself as a formidable player in the golf and landscape business. Ventana is the group’s trading arm, offering a wide range of golf and landscape products, including golf carts, turf machinery, irrigation, battery, chemical, and other related products.

Textron International Key Accounts Manager EMEA, LATAM, Andre Andrade, has worked with Ventana LLC on the Ransomes account and is confident they will successfully grow the brands.

“We are extremely proud to have a strong company like Ventana LLC as a distributor to our brands in the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” he began. “E-Z-GO, Cushman, Jacobsen and Ransomes are powerful market leading brands, and they are the right partner to support our efforts.

“The Middle East is an extremely important market for us, and we are making strategic changes that will continue to position ourselves as market leaders in the region. We’ve had an outstanding experience with Ventana LLC working on the Ransomes brand, and I’m excited to see that work extended into E-Z-GO and the turf machinery products.”

Ventana’s success in the Middle East is built on the ability to offer all-encompassing machinery and utility solutions to its customers. For Ventana’s General Manager, Riyad Mustafa, this partnership will allow the company to continue its customer focused approach.

“We are excited to announce our new partnership with the Textron group in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. As an existing distributor of the Ransomes brand, Ventana LLC is delighted with the addition of the E-Z-GO, Jacobsen and Cushman brands to our portfolio. This is a testament to the success of our business and our commitment to a long-term business strategy in the region.”

“Under the wise leadership of our group chairman Mr Ahmad Al Anoohi and group CEO Mr Naser Ahmed, Ventana LLC continues to expand our customer focused business in the region; this partnership enables us to strengthen our ability to offer comprehensive product solutions and customer support to clients.”

For more information on the products please visit www.ventanallc.com

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New Turf Rewards for 2021

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New Turf Rewards for 2021: ICL and Syngenta have expanded the Turf Rewards family to bring you even more budget and time saving rewards for 2021.

Turf Rewards provides the opportunity for customers to earn points from purchases that can then be exchanged against a fantastic selection of agronomic or turf related items and learning opportunities. Over recent years greenkeepers and turf managers have praised the scheme for providing them with an opportunity to improve turf management and business performance – at no added cost.

New Turf Rewards for 2021

New Turf Rewards for 2021

One of the main benefits of the scheme is that it allows users to claim tools and equipment that may be difficult to stretch to when working to a tight budget. Turf Rewards makes these items accessible and affordable.

With an extensive range of items already on offer, a raft of new rewards for 2021 have recently been confirmed. These include:

  • A range of wildflower mixes suitable for links, parkland and heathland areas.
  • Stihl Dynamic Bluetooth ear defenders.
  • Accupro 1000 and Accupro 2000 spreaders.
  • A waste collection and recycling service from Chemastic.
  • TDR150 and TDR350 moisture meters.
  • iMac 21.5-inch desktop computer.
  • SGL BU10 grow light.
  • Plus, much more.

New qualifying products for 2021 include the Gronamic range of organo-mineral fertilizers, the recently launched fungicide Ascernity, Hicure, a new biostimulant from Syngena and FR321 – the new one-box solution for autumn turf disease control.

There are now even further ways to boost your points balance with double points promotions on many commonly used products such as Sierrablen, SierrablenPlus, Vitalnova and Qualibra. The qualifying quantity threshold for Sierrablen and Vitalnova has also been reduced.

Users of the scheme will be pleased to hear that the popular fungicide promotion has also returned – but this time with an even better offering. Simply purchase four fungicide applications in 2021 and earn an additional 10 bonus points.

Give your turf and your pockets a helping hand with Turf Rewards in 2021.

To find out more and to register visit www.turfrewards.com

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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Consolidate Turf Appoint Anthony Asquith

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Consolidate Turf Appoint Anthony Asquith: Consolidate Turf (Growing Solutions Ltd) are pleased to announce Anthony Asquith’s appointment as Technical Manager with immediate effect.

Anthony was educated at Askham Bryan College and has been in the turf industry for over 20 years with experience in multiple sports in both a practical and advisory capacity. For the last 12 years, Anthony has worked as an Independent Turf Agronomist advising golf courses, sports grounds, schools and other sports turf facilities.

Consolidate Turf Appoint Anthony Asquith

Consolidate Turf Appoint Anthony Asquith

Speaking on the appointment, Paul Benson, Managing Director of Growing Solutions Ltd, said: “Anthony joins Consolidate Turf as a well connected and respected individual with a good history and a vast technical knowledge. His mantra of an all-round holistic approach to turf management fits well with our company ethos and principles, and we look forward to him applying this with our customers.”

Anthony joins current Technical Sales Manager Rob Welford in covering the UK and Ireland providing advice to all turf facilities on their range of products as well as good agronomic practice to aid them in achieving better quality surfaces.

For more information on the Consolidate Turf range, visit www.consolidateturf.com  

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Countrywide Grounds use Turf Tank Base Station

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Countrywide Grounds use Turf Tank Base Station: Countrywide Grounds, Shropshire, has been using the Turf Tank robotic line marker with GPS base station to achieve unrivalled accuracy wherever it is needed.

The Turf Tank is the only GPS line marker available that uses a base station. It provides an accuracy of +/- 1cm over 100m and ensures that the robot will overmark lines with supreme precision and mark out new pitches with ease. The base station allows the machine to be operated without cellular or real-time kinematic (RTK) connectivity and coverage. Using the closed system means the marker can be used anywhere with unprecedented reliability while matching the marking speed of every robotic line marker on the market.

Countrywide Grounds use Turf Tank Base Station

Countrywide Grounds use Turf Tank Base Station

Having this technology was a crucial factor for Countrywide Grounds director, Wayne Middleton, who has used GPS steered tractors during his work in agriculture.

Wayne explains: “We have come from an agricultural background where we used GPS probably for the last 12 to 14 years on our tractors. So, we set out to look for a GPS line marker because we knew what the technology was all about.

“We went to Saltex last November and looked at line markers and came across the Turf Tank. And after chatting to them and looking at the other options this was the one that grabbed us, purely because it is a base station based GPS rather than a sim card. Some of the places we go you can’t even get a mobile phone signal, and wanting a base station comes from out agricultural background because with the systems we use the base station is the way forward.

“The Turf Tank stands up very well to the agricultural technology we have used. I’ve been very pleased with how accurate it’s been. I mark eight football pitches for a league, and they get marked every week, and I’ve gone back in and overmarked them, and it hasn’t missed a beat. Each pitch takes 20 minutes, and the accuracy is always spot on.

“I can go and mow a football pitch and then set that off to start marking while I cut another pitch which makes great use of the time. And as a contractor, time is something you always need more of. We can also mark at night, which is a big plus for us going into winter because it means we can beat the weather and still provide a good service.”

As well as football pitches, Wayne has been able to use the robot to mark out year group areas for schools including numbers, and he has also completed 100m and 200m running tracks with various other sports in the pipeline.

While using the GPS technology is nothing new to Wayne, line marking and the Turf Tank are, making the assistance and back-up service from Turf Tank’s southern UK rep, Alex Robinson, vital.

“What I like about Alex is he has been very patient with us,” Wayne explains. “We first met him at Saltex and then had a demo of the robot in January 2020 on a very wet field. We were over the moon with how it performed, and since buying it in August, he’s always been at the other end of the phone.

“When it arrived, he was straight out and showed us how to use it, and if we need little pointers or a quick talk through something, he’s always happy to help.”

For more information on the Turf Tank One or to have a demonstration contact alex@turftank.co.uk (southern UK) or matt@turftank.co.uk (northern UK).

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Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits

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Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits: As part of its ongoing commitment to promote the ecological benefit of man-made environments, amenity grass and wildflower seed specialist Germinal has updated its range of wild flora mixtures to make them more beneficial to pollinators.

Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits

Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits

“Research carried out by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) into how best to support pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies has shown that planting a mixture of native and non-native flowers can extend the flowering season and therefore boost pollinator populations by providing a more abundant and longer-lasting source of nectar and pollen,” explains Richard Brown, Amenity Sales Manager at Germinal

“For that reason, we have updated our 2021 wildflower range by introducing a wider variety of species from beyond the UK which, in addition to creating a more abundant and sustainable source of food for pollinators and other beneficial invertebrates in urban and semi-urban environments, will also produce a more aesthetically appealing array of flowers with a wider palette of longer-lasting colours.”

By adding non-native species to its General Landscaping (Urban Meadows) Wild Flora range – which contains 100% wildflower mixtures and ready-to-sow wildflower and complementary grass seed blends – Germinal is now able to offer pollinator enhanced, ‘near-native’ mixtures for use across a range of different soil types and purposes.

Mr Brown adds: “Protecting the diversity and sustainability of the UK’s wild flora heritage is an important aspect of every landscaper’s remit, not only to maintain and promote healthy ecological systems, but also to enhance the environmental aesthetics of man-made green spaces.

“However, what the public perceives to be a natural meadow habitat (a vibrant sea of different colouring flowers) is often at odds with what a true meadow actually contains – a much narrower palette of colours. As a result, these less visually stunning, but 100% native meadows often end up underwhelming their custodians, and frequently get tidied up into a more manicured green space. As such, they don’t last as long as more vibrant urban meadows which are more likely to be proactively maintained and retained for much longer.

“By incorporating non-native species into our general landscaping wildflower mixtures for use in urban or suburban settings such as new housing estates and business or retail park developments, we are therefore empowering landscape architects to not only do their ‘bit’ to reduce the decline in pollinator numbers, but also to produce the wide range of colours expected by the public.”

Germinal also offers a range of 100% UK-native wildflower seed mixtures: based on the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) survey, these Regional Environmental (RE) mixtures are made up of species which are entirely indigenous to the UK and which enable landscapers to create ‘true meadow’ habitats. “For landscaping projects where the use of species which are entirely native to the UK is the critical driving factor, our Regional Environmental range is the ideal choice,” Mr Brown adds. “These carefully selected mixtures accurately replicate local, regional and national UK habitats, thereby enabling landscapers to safeguard native wildlife populations by preserving the heritage of the UK’s natural environment.”

In addition to its standard wildflower ranges, Germinal is also able to create bespoke mixtures to suit site-specific requirements. All of Germinal’s wildflower mixtures contain species which have been deemed ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ by the RHS.

For more information about Germinal’s wildflower mixtures go to www.germinalamenity.com.

Alternatively, for advice on the most suitable mixture(s) for a specific remit or advice about a special formulation, please contact Germinal on 01522 868714.

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