Blog Elements - Turf Matters

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

A Winning Combination

May 6, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

A Winning Combination: Stuart Lambert, Head Groundsman at Gloucester Rugby, says that a combination of two seed mixtures from Limagrain UK ensures that the pitch at the Kingsholm Stadium stands up to the rigours of training sessions and matchdays. Having been in the turf industry all his career Stuart has been the Head Groundsman at […]

Control rats in 7 days

May 6, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Sarah Allin

Control rats in 7 days: BASF has launched Selontra®, a new rodenticide bait capable of controlling rodent infestations in just seven days. The bait features cholecalciferol, a new active with a different mode of action, which rodents have no known resistance to. “Selontra is a new chapter in rodent control. Cholecalciferol is fast acting and […]

A Winning Combination

May 6, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Control rats in 7 days

May 6, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Sarah Allin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

A Winning Combination

May 6, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

A Winning Combination: Stuart Lambert, Head Groundsman at Gloucester Rugby, says that a combination of two seed mixtures from Limagrain UK ensures that the pitch at the Kingsholm Stadium stands up to the rigours of training sessions and matchdays.

Having been in the turf industry all his career Stuart has been the Head Groundsman at Gloucester Rugby for nearly three years now. Prior to moving to the Kingsholm Stadium, he was already accustomed to the Limagrain range of grass seed.

A Winning Combination

“I had first used Limagrain’s MM50 seed in my previous role at Bromsgrove School,” said Stuart. “We used it on the cricket squares, and I was instantly impressed. When I first arrived at Gloucester, the club were already using Limagrain and I knew what it could do so I decided to stick with it.”

Stuart, who competes with up to three training sessions a week on top of matchdays, always starts the season with MM60; which is renowned for producing an excellent playing surface in a stadium environment. With the added benefit of being treated with Headstart® GOLD, a biological germination accelerator, MM60 delivers stronger more resilient seedling grass, giving turf the best possible start.

“We always use the MM60 mixture for our summer renovation and we will go with a rate of 50g per square metre – which is absolutely perfect,” said Stuart. “One of the biggest benefits of the seed is just how quickly it germinates. Last year, the grass was growing within five days of applying the seed and I couldn’t believe it.”

After his summer renovation, Stuart ensures that he has enough bags of MM60 left over so that he can overseed some of the high usage areas throughout the season. He will continue to overseed these areas with MM60 until October and it is at this point that Stuart switches to Limagrain’s Tetra Sport mixture to see him through the winter period.

“As soon as October comes, we switch to the Tetra Sport seed, because we find that it grows in a lot colder temperatures,” he said.

A traditional repair mixture, especially useful for overseeding of high quality sportsfields to improve sward composition and aid recovery from disease scarring, Tetra Sport consists of Tetraploid Ryegrasses and is ideal for when the cooler weather arrives.

Stuart undertakes a rather unique pre-germination process before even applying the seed mixture – as he explains.

“We start by tipping the seed into buckets; we then fill the buckets with water and leave the seed to soak for 24 hours,” he said. “The seed then goes from a light brown colour to a dark brown colour because it has absorbed all the water; and then we will drain the water off, leave it in a heated shed with a heat lamp, and it will stay there for two further days. We then apply the seed to the pitch immediately.

“Ultimately, this pre-germination process gives us a great head-start. I would say that it speeds the process up by about three weeks. On the particularly bad areas we will put the grow lights over the top and that helps in anchoring the seed and helping the grass to stand up.

“It is a process that not a lot of people do,” continued Stuart. “But a lot of lower league clubs could and should be doing it because it buys time and makes a big difference – particularly in the winter.

“Limagrain’s seed is the strongest seed I have come across and our soil samples prove that we get decent root growth as well. Quite simply, both MM60 and Tetra Sport tick every box for us. These two seed mixtures, combined with our feeding programme, certainly helps the pitch stand up to such heavy usage.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/amenity – you can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Control rats in 7 days

May 6, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Sarah Allin

Control rats in 7 days: BASF has launched Selontra®, a new rodenticide bait capable of controlling rodent infestations in just seven days. The bait features cholecalciferol, a new active with a different mode of action, which rodents have no known resistance to.

“Selontra is a new chapter in rodent control. Cholecalciferol is fast acting and stops rodents feeding within 24 hours. This minimises feed losses and the bio-security risk of rodents in farming. It is highly palatable to compete with other food sources on farms and can control even large infestations is just seven days, using the new BASF speed baiting method,” explains BASF Key Account Manager, Helen Ainsworth.

Control rats in 7 days

Concerns over resistance to anticoagulant rodenticide baits has created the need for a new active to be introduced to tackle so called ‘super rats’. “Some rats have developed resistance to difenacoum and bromadiolone actives which are used in a number of common baits. To help control resistant rats BASF has developed Selontra which contains cholecalciferol in a highly palatable bait matrix. This makes it more appealing to rodents than common farm food sources and in farm trials it was 13.2 times* more palatable than maize silage,” she says.

A new baiting technique, known as ‘speed baiting’, can reduce the time needed to control farm infestations. Using BASF’s 7-2-7 baiting method farmers can control even large infestations quickly, using less bait. Seven blocks of Selontra placed on day one and replenished on day two can be sufficient to tackle farm rats effectively. “By following the label and implementing the required number of bait stations, farmers can reduce the amount of bait needed and can control rodents in seven days,” she says.

Cholecalciferol is not persistent in the environment and so also offers an opportunity to reduce the effect of rodenticides on non-target species. “Selontra works by the rodent having too much calcium in the blood. This means fewer, less harmful residues which will help to minimise the risk to non-target species,” she explains.

Selontra is available from farm retailers and BASF has created an online course to help farmers learn about how it works and how to implement speed baiting. “This course provides all the information needed to use Selontra effectively in a rural environment. Rodenticides are a valuable tool to protect livestock and grain stores from rodents. Selontra is a cost and time effective solution that we hope will help farmers control rodents in the future,” concludes Miss Ainsworth.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

A Winning Combination

Control rats in 7 days

A Winning Combination

Control rats in 7 days

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

A Winning Combination

A Winning Combination: Stuart Lambert, Head Groundsman at Gloucester Rugby, says that a combination of two seed mixtures from Limagrain UK ensures that the pitch at the Kingsholm Stadium stands up to the rigours of training sessions and matchdays.

Control rats in 7 days

Control rats in 7 days: BASF has launched Selontra®, a new rodenticide bait capable of controlling rodent infestations in just seven days. The bait features cholecalciferol, a new active with a different mode of action, which rodents have no known resistance to.

RESOURCES

CONTACT

CONNECT