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The Agrovista Amenity Academy

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The Agrovista Amenity Academy: The Agrovista Amenity Academy, which is free to sign-up to, is an online learning resource providing in-depth Knowledge courses on subjects such as turf disease, chemicals, product application, turf pests, managing moss, frost, weeds, and thatch as well as courses for all products sold by Agrovista Amenity. 

The Product courses have been designed so that the individual can fully understand and get maximum benefits from the products they purchase. With knowledge and product courses being added on a regular basis, Academy students are guaranteed to have a wide variety to choose from.

The Agrovista Amenity Academy

The Agrovista Amenity Academy

The Academy has already shown significant growth with over 11,000 CPD points awarded so far. Furthermore, many greenkeepers and course managers are benefitting from a CPD partnership with BIGGA, which enables BIGGA’s members to embark on any course they choose without having to go through an employer. BIGGA allocates up to 4 points for all successfully completed courses and can vary depending on content and length.

The Academy website also boasts a highly sophisticated weather system which helps people make better decisions for the week ahead. Understanding the effects of weather when managing sports turf surfaces is a key skill required by all turf managers and CPD points are awarded for studying the weather report and passing a short test.

“It has grown bigger than we ever expected it to,” said Karl Parry, the founder of the education platform. “The amount of CPD points we have awarded really is quite phenomenal.

“I think that the product and knowledge portfolios that we can build is endless. Agrovista has an incredible number of resources combined with highly knowledgeable and experienced professionals. Both sections will continue to expand and will push the amenity standard forward.”

As the Agrovista Academy continues to grow, so too does the number of positive reviews.

“I spent some time to refresh the mind on the subject of thatch in sports turf. Very useful knowledge.” – Michael Williams, Whitgift School.

“Thank you so much for the Agrovista Academy. I have found it to be a great saviour during lockdown times to keep me occupied whilst learning and gaining CPD credits at the same time.” – John Milne, Dufftown Golf Club.

“I am finding them very informative. Having recently got back into the industry they are great for extra education.” – Andy Burrell, Garmouth and Kingston Golf Club.

“Please keep the Academy running – it is a great learning tool.” – Andrew Hatcher, Coed-Y-Mwstwr Golf Club.

You can visit the new Amenity academy here: www.amenityacademy.co.uk

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Dennis G34D brilliant for the Baggies

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Dennis G34D brilliant for the Baggies: Rob Lane, Head Groundsman at The Hawthorns stadium, recently decided that a Dennis G34D cylinder was the mower that would help him achieve that all important pitch-perfect-presentation.

Back in the seventies when Rob was stood in the stands watching his beloved West Bromwich Albion FC, little did he know that he would one day be responsible for looking after the pitch. Fast forward a decade and he was about to do exactly that.

Dennis G34D brilliant for the Baggies

Dennis G34D brilliant for the Baggies

“I wasn’t good enough to play the game, but I knew I wanted to be involved in football,” he said. “That was when I first thought about becoming a groundsman. So, I contacted all the football clubs in the area closest to me, and the only vacancy available was at my childhood club. I jumped at the chance. My whole family are West Brom fans, so it was a proud moment.”

Rob embarked on a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) which included a day release where he studied Sports Turf at college. That was in 1988 and he has been at the club ever since.

The one-club man is committed to preparing the best pitch possible for the players, the staff, the fans, and of course his family, so Rob never cuts any corners. Therefore, when it came to finding a new mower to give the pitch that all important matchday cut, it was a decision he was not going to rush into.

“Our previous mower we had for presenting the pitch needed replacing and I looked long and hard at what was available,” he said. “I just couldn’t look past the Dennis G34D and that was based on our experience with the Dennis G860 cylinder mower – which is a machine we use a lot here. It is the same height; the same weight and we liked the thought of having two Dennis mowers for the pitch. It would be nice and uniformed.”

As Rob says, the Dennis G34D has been designed and built following the same concept as the popular Dennis G860 cylinder mower. Available in three different cutting sizes – 26”, 30” and 34” – the mowers incorporate a large-diameter eight bladed cutting cylinder to cater for a wide range of uses to leave a precision cut. The handlebar design makes manoeuvring easy and the wide adjustment makes it comfortable for all cutting heights.

Rob now uses the two mowers in conjunction with one another to prepare the pitch. While using cassettes such as the verticutter and the brush on the G860, he will save the G34D for matchdays.

“On a Friday before a game we will use the G34D to cut widthways and then on a Saturday morning we will cut lengthways,” he said.

“It provides a fantastic finish every time. We also like the fact that if it is a bit dewy or a bit wet then it doesn’t drop the grass clippings like our old machine used to. It also has a much bigger grass box to get more in and you don’t have to keep stopping to empty it.

“I’m very pleased – it is a superbly engineered mower.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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

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Sustainability at the forefront from DLF

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Sustainability at the forefront from DLF: DLF Seeds pride themselves on consistently improving and setting the standard for grass seed excellence, and their mixtures for 2022 will be no different.

A stop by stand 270 in the Red Zone at BTME, will give visitors the first chance to hear about the new sustainable and environmental solutions that will change the way that professional turf managers will tackle some of today’s biggest challenges.

Sustainability at the forefront from DLF

Sustainability at the forefront from DLF

The shift in weather patterns combined with changing management models of maintenance and plant nutrition are largely believed to be the triggers for an increase in the occurrence of some turf diseases, particularly the rise in reported instances of Brown Patch. Over the last two years, and utilising their global research network, DLF have been leading the field with a screening programme for Brown Patch which has identified the tolerance of DLF’s 4Turf® varieties.

The results of the study have therefore formed the foundation of a number of new formulations across the Johnsons Sports Seed fine turf and sports turf ranges – including J Premier 4Turf – a brand new mixture for 2022 which will be the first of its kind to offer proven Brown Patch tolerance for winter sports pitches. For golf, a number of popular mixtures have been reformulated including J Fairway which features the new salt tolerant Esparina chewings fescue and J Rye Fairway which has been updated to include the new highly rated, perennial ryegrass Aniston.

All of the changes will be outlined in the brand-new Johnsons Sports Seed brochure, which can be found on the stand alongside two new brochures dedicated to the recently expanded DLF Wildflower collections. In order to meet with the increasing demand for sustainability and conservation areas, a number of mixtures have been added to both the ProFlora native wildflower and Colour Boost high impact wildflower ranges.

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

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The science behind healthy water

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The science behind healthy water: Water management for clean, healthy water is critical. But how do you know your aerator is a sound investment, delivering the best aeration to tackle poor quality water? Otterbine explains how Oxygen Transfer Rates are essential.

The scientific measure of an aerator’s capability to supply oxygen to water is its ‘Oxygen Transfer Rate’. Defined by The American Society of Civil Engineers, it’s the gold standard for the measure of how much oxygen an aeration system transfers and for addressing all the reasons why aeration is needed.

The science behind healthy water

The science behind healthy water

Any manufacturer serious about helping customers achieve a balanced ecosystem will provide oxygen transfer tests performed by an independent third party. Otterbine’s, for example, are tested by the University of Minnesota and Gerry Shell Environmental Labs, the results from which can be found online at otterbine.com.

Aeration helps with algae and aquatic weed control, reduces odours, eliminates chemicals, reduces phosphorus, eliminates fish kills, helps with the oxidation of iron and heavy metals, acts as a mosquito breeding deterent, benefits aquatic animal life and the ecosystem, prolongs the life of the pond/lake/reservoir and is great for public safety because aeration prevents diseases associated with stagnant water.

By simply adding dissolved oxygen to water, you are supporting the aerobic and oxidative processes of the water. The oxygen attaches to the phosphorus and converts it into an insoluble form, making it unavailable to plants as a nutrient.

So, by simply adding an aerator to the water, you are preventing all 10 reasons for poor quality, smelly, bug-infested, unappealing water – we promised you a hassle-free solution!

You may wonder how the Oxygen Transfer Rate of different aerators vary. Surface spray and diffused aerators are the most common and in terms of the amount of oxygen transferred that can range from 1.59lbs of oxygen per horsepower hour in 8ft of water from a diffused aerator to 3lbs of oxygen per horsepower hours regardless of depth from a surface spray aerator. Which one you choose depends on the size of the body of water you’re looking to aerate;  just remember oxygen transfer rates are the key to success

There are experts in water management at Reesink Turfcare, UK Otterbine distributor, who will be happy to help guide you in the decision-making process. Contact Reesink on 01480 226800, email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

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The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses: SubAir Systems, a high-tech system provided by Bernhard and Company to EMEA and parts of Asia, is one of the most revolutionary products in the turf industry, being trusted by some of the most famous golf courses and natural grass stadiums around the globe.

We sat down with Steve Wilson, PAC-Asia Business Development Manager from Bernhard and Company, and Matt Cindea, Global Project Consultant from SubAir Systems, to learn more about the product and why it is the ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses.

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

“As a concept, SubAir is a vacuum and aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses,” said Matt.

“In pressure mode, the system simply pushes clean oxygen into the selected root zone of any pitch or green, encouraging the best possible growing conditions for the grass plants. This is extremely important, as grass naturally develops waste gas that formulates around the root zone – even more so during high temperatures. Being able to remove these gases and replace them with fresh oxygen means that the growing conditions can be regulated continuously and kept at optimal levels.

“The vacuum mode essentially works in the complete opposite way, by pulling air out and away from the bottom of the root zone.

When you remove air from this zone, it also pulls moisture away at the same time, which allows the user to be very calculated when determining the amount of moisture they want within their soil profile.

“This use of SubAir Systems is perhaps the most globally recognised and is certainly one that our customers appreciate, because it allows them to maintain a constant moisture level despite any large storms or deluges of water that might otherwise flood their pitch or course.

“We also install sensors in the playing surfaces that can monitor the salinity, moisture, temperature and oxygen levels of the turf. The information collected by those sensors then directly feeds into our system which can create an auto-response. For example, the system can be programmed so that if there is a spike in moisture levels, the vacuum will automatically pull air out until the moisture level drops back down to the desired number.

“Initially, the SubAir product was created purely to push air into a root zone. The prototype product was actually derived from a powerful leaf blower, which was used to blow air through a drainage system to provide fresh oxygen to a green that struggled particularly badly with flooding each year. Over the course of a couple of months, it became obvious that the green was able to recover quicker due to the better-quality air circulating beneath the soil. From that came the realisation that if you could push oxygen into the subsoil, with a reversed power source you could just as easily remove air and water.

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

“Every SubAir System that we install has to contend with a different growing environment. We have systems all over the world, in Asia, North America, South America and Europe. The systems in each of those locations need to be programmed differently to tackle each totally unique climate. We work very closely with the turf manager at each individual site to determine their exact treatment requirements. With so many variables in play at each location, it is extremely important for us to go through a rigorous consultation process to understand the bespoke needs of each client and how we can deliver the best possible results.

“An example of the differing climates and how they have totally unique requirements would be with one of our more recent installations in Qatar. The amount of rainfall each year in Qatar is extremely low and the temperature rarely drops below 25 degrees Celsius.

This kind of installation very much goes against the misconception that SubAir Systems are all about moisture control. In Qatar, the turf management teams will be using the system almost exclusively in pressure mode, to provide fresh, cool oxygen to the pitches and help remove the waste gases that build up much more quickly in intense heat.”

Steve added that they had learned a lot from installing SubAir in Qatar.

“At one particular venue that is located by the coast, there is a very high water table. At this time of year in Qatar, they will overseed with Rye grass, which means they are watering the surfaces a lot. As such, the moisture levels within the turf have been very high, so they have been using their vacuum system to pull some of that moisture down which inadvertently reduced the salinity of their soil.

“In addition to reducing salinity, some turf managers will also use the vacuum system to help with their chemical applications. If they are looking to apply a root treatment, they can use the vacuum system to draw the chemicals further down into the root profile for maximum efficiency. I really can’t overstate how valuable it is to have control of a natural grass pitch, and the ability to pump in clean air and remove water. Not just from a maintenance perspective, but it is also so important from a safety side of things. The ability to dictate a perfect playing surface means that the field will be in the safest possible condition for those competing on it.”

Matt explained that each system has its own control panel that is housed on-site and allows turf managers to quickly and easily control their system.

“We have access to all our installations through an oversight app that allows us to make manipulations if requested, and we are always happy to consult with our customers on process recommendations. Ultimately though, it is a tool that we are providing to turf managers that will give them the ultimate platform to deliver the healthiest and most effective pitch or golf green.

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

“It’s important to note that SubAir is by no means just a product for golf. It was developed to help and improve any natural grass pitch or green. We have installations across multiple different platforms, from golf to cricket, baseball, soccer, horse racing and tennis, just to name a few. Every installation is completely bespoke – our team of engineers will take a look at the space provided, then custom engineer a system to fit that location.

“A SubAir System is the best insurance policy in the world for sporting venues that host major events or tournaments. Events that take place on an international or global scale have millions, if not billions of dollars pumped into them – look at the World Cup for example. If the heavens opened and a deluge of rain came down, it is completely feasible that pitches would quickly become unplayable and the cancellation of games in international and global tournaments can cost organisers millions. In the grand scheme of a project, having that insurance when it comes to game day is priceless.

“The future of SubAir is extremely bright. Maintaining a pitch is far more than throwing some seed onto a field and applying some fertilisers. Turf care is a science and modern-day expectations are very high.

When new pitches and golf courses are being created, everything has to be done to the highest possible level, including the turf, and SubAir is essential if you are looking to deliver the very best possible turf.”