Tag Archive for: In

Bobcat in action in Germany

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Bobcat in action in Germany: With over 3000 tournament events a year and almost four million people who, according to the Allensbach study, call themselves riders, horse riding is extremely popular in Germany.

The quality of the riding surface is an important part of horse and rider health. A special sand/fleece mixture has established itself as an international standard and, in addition to long life, ensures sufficient grip when jumping, landing and turning.

Bobcat in action in Germany

Bobcat in action in Germany

A pioneer in the use of this mixture is fair ground GmbH, which relies on a Bobcat T870 compact track loader and various Bobcat attachments when laying and maintaining surfaces for riding arenas, tournaments and outdoor installations. The company used all of this Bobcat equipment to lay materials for the 9000 m² of riding areas used in the Hanover exhibition halls for the 2019 Horse and Hunting Fair.

“We chose the Bobcat T870 compact track loader and are very satisfied with the performance. Above all, our operator is very enthusiastic about what they can do with the machine, after getting used to handling the new track loader in the shortest possible time. The tracks and the very wide range of possible applications means the Bobcat T870 is the perfect machine for us,” says Ekhard Dettmeier, fair ground Managing Director, who was an active show jumper until the end of the 1980s. To complete the 9000 m² of riding area at the Horse and Hunting Fair in Hanover in just two days, the T870 was combined with a Bobcat laser grader.

A Machine for Day-to-Day Business

As well as the spectacular one-offs such as the Horse and Hunting Fair, the T870 has also proved itself in fair ground’s day-to-day business. “The tracks on the T870 offer great advantages, especially in the outdoor spaces that we are creating,” Ekhard Dettmeier adds. The ground pressure plays an important role. Thanks to the tracks, this is very low. Due to its compact size, the powerful T870 is also ideal for smaller riding arenas and halls.

The many attachments compatible with the T870 also make work easier. In the compact loader segment, Bobcat has around 75 different families of attachments that cover a very wide range of tasks. “You can tell that the attachments are also from Bobcat when you use them. It is much better when the attachments are matched to the carrier machine. And thanks to the compact size of the equipment, we can put plenty of attachments on the same flatbed trailer as the T870,” explains Ekhard Dettmeier. This saves time and transportation costs. More time is saved as it is easy to change between attachments on site thanks to Bobcat’s Bob-Tach quick-change system.

Bobcat T870 in Continuous Use

“The T870 compact track loader is a real workhorse for us. The machine is in use for seven to eight hours a day. We have received excellent support from Bobcat dealer, Müller Maschinen GmbH in Hildesheim,” says Dettmeier.

“It is always nice for us to see the reaction when we supply our customers with the right tool for their requirements. With its wide range of products and wide variety of attachments, the Bobcat range repeatedly proves its versatility. If we can also help the customer with a tailor-made service, we are of course delighted,” said Ulf Ahrens from Müller Maschinen GmbH.

For more information about Bobcat and Bobcat products, visit the website www.bobcat.com

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Fields in Trust bringing parks to you

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Fields in Trust bringing parks to you: Whilst we’re all staying home and less able to get out to enjoy our nation’s parks this spring, green space charity Fields in Trust are bringing parks to people with a virtual tour of the UK, discovering beautiful parks and green spaces which are much loved and valued by their communities along the way.

At a time when communities across the country are revaluing the benefits their local parks usually provide for sport, nature and play, the tour will be moving around the UK exploring locations online by showcasing town and city parks which you can “visit” from your home and get a little virtual wellbeing boost in these challenging times. It’s an opportunity to experience, not just the local green spaces on your doorstep, but to discover new parks across the nations and regions of the UK.

Fields in Trust bringing parks to you

Fields in Trust bringing parks to you

The Fields in Trust website at www.fieldsintrust.org is the start point of the tour which begins by exploring the locations of the Home Nation winners in 2019’s UK’s Best Park award, Blackpool, Antrim, Dunfermline and Merthyr Tydfil. After that, the direction of the tour will be determined by park users who are invited to share their green space stories and suggest new areas to investigate. Whether you think your town or city has great parks that the rest of the country should know about, or perhaps you’re a Park-Friends-Group group or a community organisation who’d like to tell their story, let Fields in Trust know where the tour should visit and why!

Along the way, Fields in Trust will be finding out a bit more about how our usage of parks has been affected at this time with, a short survey of park users on the website www.fieldsintrust.org.

Research conducted by Fields in Trust has demonstrated clear physical health and mental wellbeing benefits from regular use of the UK’s parks and green spaces, yet these vital community assets are not equally distributed. Around 2.6million people in Great Britain live more than a ten-minute walk from their nearest park and are missing out on the physical health and mental wellbeing benefits as well as opportunities to connect with their neighbours.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive, Helen Griffiths, said: “The last few weeks have reminded everyone that the UK’s parks and green spaces are highly valued parts of our local neighbourhoods and shown us just how sorely they’re missed when they are not easily accessible. During these changed and challenging times, we must adapt how we use and enjoy them, in line with Government guidance. We are all experiencing what life would be like without access to these much-loved local spaces. Thankfully right now the loss is temporary, but it serves as a reminder that many of these spaces are lost forever. We hope that bringing the park to you this spring will provide a little virtual wellbeing because green spaces are good, they do good and they need to be protected for good.”

The average amount of green space per person in Great Britain is just over 35 square metres, less than half the size of a six-yard box on a football pitch; however, only 5.7% of the park and green space provision in Great Britain is legally protected with Fields in Trust. It is up to all of us to act to stem the decline and disappearance of our nation’s cherished parks and green spaces. Fields in

Trust are calling for the current level of park and green space provision to be maintained and encouraging communities to fight for those green spaces vulnerable to loss or development.

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ICL’s LockStar available in Ireland

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ICL’s LockStar available in Ireland: ICL has announced that LockStar – a new residual, pre-emergent total herbicide for vegetation management, is now available in Ireland.

LockStar arrives at a time when public green spaces, amenity areas and transportation infrastructure are all coming under increasing pressure from reduced budgets, weed infestations and a reduction in chemical solutions available on the market. This new herbicide will keep areas such as these weed-free, functional and visually pleasing.

ICL’s LockStar available in Ireland

ICL’s LockStar available in Ireland

Developed for use on natural surfaces not intended to bear vegetation, permeable surfaces overlying soil and railway ballast, LockStar controls a broad spectrum of weeds and has an innovative, long-lasting formula which allows for professional and safe weed control. The formula contains diflufenican and iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium – the first herbicide to receive full approval in amenity and landscape situations for many years.

When applied before germination LockStar creates a dual barrier at the soil surface ensuring that soil is kept weed-free for up to four months. To control weeds that are already present, LockStar should be tank-mixed with glyphosate or a fatty acid.

Plants can become resistant to active ingredients within products with the same mode of action, which is why LockStar features these two different active ingredients. Affecting plants in multiple ways, they give increased longevity compared to products with a single mode of action – useful for users undertaking a resistance management programme.

LockStar, available in a 500g pack, uses the latest generation of water dispersible granules, which means the product quickly dissolves in water and remains stable in the spray tank for a minimum of 24 hours.

Compared to conventional weed management programmes, LockStar keeps surfaces clean and weed-free for longer, as well as reducing the number of applications and amounts of herbicide required.

In Ireland LockStar should be applied at a rate of 500g/ha between March and June, with just a single application per season.

Please contact ICL Country Manager Colman Warde on +353 8777 99527 or visit www.icl-sf.ie for more information.

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

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Kubota Invests in Escorts Limited

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Kubota Invests in Escorts Limited: Kubota Corporation (Headquarters: Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Yuichi Kitao; hereinafter, “Kubota”) announced today that it will invest in an Indian leading tractor manufacturer, Escorts Limited (Headquarters: India, Chairman and Managing Director: Nikhil Nanda; hereinafter, “EL”).

Through this investment, Kubota intends to increase its presence in India – the world’s largest tractor market – as well as its commitment to the competitive tractor market, which has massive growth potential, thus further expanding its business.

Kubota Invests in Escorts Limited

Kubota Invests in Escorts Limited

Tractor produced by EL started distributing through Kubota’s sales network in worldwide.

Background and aims

  • The tractor market in India is one of the world’s largest in terms of unit sales and expects to expand further. In 2008, Kubota established Kubota Agricultural Machinery India Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter, “KAI”) as a foothold in the Indian market.
  • At present, local manufacturers are playing key roles there, and they are all enhancing partnerships with foreign-affiliated manufacturers. In February 2019, Kubota established a joint-venture tractor manufacturing company with EL and mass production is due to start this July.
  • Through this capital tie, the two companies intend to deepen their cooperative relationship further and, by leveraging each other’s strengths, create synergy across a broad range of their business, including development, production, sales, distribution, and parts procurement, in a bid to extend their reach in the Indian market.
  • Meanwhile, the competitive tractors which currently form the core of the Indian tractor market, are gaining popularity in other markets around the world. Kubota hopes to expand its global reach in those model market by tapping into EL’s parts procurement networks and capability to reduce cost.

Investment scheme

  • EL will issue new equity shares to Kubota on a preferential allotment basis (subject to shareholders’ and necessary regulatory approvals) pursuant to which Kubota will hold 9.1% of EL’s paid up share capital.
  • The total amount of investment will be approximately 16 billion yen.
  • Subsequent to the preferential allotment to Kubota, EL will undertake a reduction of its share capital from the shares held by the Escorts Benefit and Welfare Trust (subject to receipt of necessary approvals) of such number of equity shares as are being issued to Kubota under the preferential allotment. Post the capital reduction, Kubota’s stake in EL will increase to 10%.
  • About the investee
Company name Escorts Limited
Representative Nikhil Nanda, Chairman and Managing Director
Location Faridabad City, Haryana State, India
Year of establishment 1944
Business Manufacture and sales of agricultural equipment, construction equipment, and railways-related equipment
Sales Approx. 100.0 billion yen (approx. 62.0 billion rupee; for the year ended March 2019)
Number of employees 11,000 (including non-regular employees, current as of December 2019)
  • Future developments

 

  • After going through the necessary procedures and subject to receipt of requisite approvals, the investment is likely to be completed by June 2020.
  • To further facilitate and strengthen the collaboration with EL, Kubota will sell 40% of stake in KAI to EL, in addition to this investment.
  • Going forward, Kubota aims to establish a joint research and development center with EL to develop products that are optimized for the local market and shorten the development period.

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Perennial prepares for increase in demand

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Perennial prepares for increase in demand: Perennial is the safety net for people in the horticulture industry and are here to help anyone working in, or retired from any job involving trees, plants, flowers or grass.

As the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continue to evolve for the whole industry, including everyone working in turf or groundscare, Perennial is urging anyone who is worried or has questions about how it will affect them, or their family, to get in touch. The team’s clear message is ‘we’re in this together’ and wants everyone in the industry to know they are there to support you. Perennial’s helpline is operating as usual on 0800 093 8543 or visit www.perennial.org.uk for the latest updates.  

Julia Hayne, Director of Services at Perennial, says: 

“We know people are worried; it’s only natural to be concerned about your own health, your ability to continue working and to support your family. We’re here to reassure, advise and help you through the coming weeks and months. We all need to work together on this. We are all facing unprecedented challenges as we adjust to new ways of working and Perennial is determined to remain available and active for everyone we help.” 

Perennial has a range of support services online and its advisers are available by phone, email or video call free of charge and in complete confidence. The online budgeting tool can be used to help understand finances and makes it simple to see what is coming in and out, with useful hints and tips to support you to adjust to changes in income. Perennial’s online mental health network, launched earlier this year in partnership with Big White Wall, can help everyone maintain their mental wellbeing.  

Perennial’s team of professional, highly trained caseworkers and debt advisers can:  

  1. help people understand and get access to government arrangements for financial  support 
  1. help people make arrangements to reduce or delay bill payments, including credit debts where necessary 
  1. provide financial assistance to cover essential items, particularly food and heating 

Peter Newman, Perennial’s Chief Executive, says:  

“In these unprecedented circumstances many people will be anxious about both the present and the future. For 180 years Perennial has stood alongside people in horticulture and our unswerving determination is to continue to be available to help through these difficult days.” 

Over the last few days Perennial’s whole workforce has responded to the evolving government guidance and will continue to monitor daily updates and promote the clear home-working, self-isolation and social distancing guidelines. The charity’s gardens at York Gate near Leeds and Fullers Mill near Bury St Edmunds will not now open as planned, and all volunteer activity has been suspended until further notice. Peter Newman continues: 

“The focus of the whole Perennial team is now on meeting the practical and social needs of people in horticulture, as the entire country faces up to the COVID-19 challenge, and its aftermath.” 

Perennial’s team of advisers all work from home and are available for phone calls, emails and video calls. Perennial are posting daily updates to an information hub on their website giving people up to date information on how you can manage your current situation, how Perennial can support individuals affected by the pandemic and links to other organisations who may be able to help. To keep up to date with new information as it emerges, follow Perennial on social media or sign up to the charity’s e-newsletters. If you have any concerns about how Coronavirus COVID-19 will affect you or your family, Perennial can be contacted by phone on: 0800 093 8543 or visit www.perennial.org.uk/coronavirus for further information.  

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