Most of us are aware by now of the national campaign that is ongoing regarding the plight of our bee population and of our pollinating insects.

The ALL-Ireland Pollinator Plan was set up to make us aware of the fact that bees and insects are in decline and to help ways to try and reverse this trend. Bees are declining in Ireland for two main reasons. The first and most important reason is habitat loss. The declining habitat of most importance to bees is flower rich grassland. The second reason is fragmentation of the habitats that remain.

The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is aimed at many different sectors such as schools, gardens, community groups, local authorities, farmers and businesses. Many in the business community have already signed up as ‘Business Supporters’ of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. Reading down through the list of over 160 business groups, it is encouraging to see some golf clubs, parks and gardens on it. Regrettably though, there are very few farm, sportsturf and domestic garden machinery dealers listed. This is a pity as I feel this particlular business sector can lead the way in helping to increase the numbers of our pollinators.

For example, dealers can, and should, encourage their customers to mow less often. Reducing the frequency of mowing allows wildflowers to flower among the longer grass... without spending money on wildflower seed! This is not always practical in certain cases such as sportspitches and golf courses where playing surfaces need to be maintained at a high standard. However, non playing areas on golf courses can be left grow wild and mown only once or twice a year or perhaps the perimeter of football pitches can have designated wild flower areas.

Dealers can put the case to their customers that by mowing less often, not only encourages bees and insects but it will also save on fuel costs and use, especially fossil fuels.

Dealers can also encourage their clients to get involved in establishing wild flower areas, either in their garden or in an area of the community. Displaying some leaflets on how to create a wild flower meadow in your showroom would be a good starting point. You can even have some of the mowers on show that would be suited to maintaining wild flower areas.

The sale of lawn mowers should not be affected by reduced mowing. After all, if one decides to mow one’s garden 13 times a year instead of 26, one still needs to have a lawn mower at hand to do the task.

There are specialized mowers on the market, such as the Honda UM161EB pedestrian mower or the larger Amazon Profihopper flail mower that can be used for cutting long grass. These type mowers are ideal for maintaining wild flower meadows where the vegetation is encouraged to grow tall and allowed to seed, thus encouraging bees and other pollinating insects to thrive. In these situations mowing is usually carried out in Spring and Autumn so these types of mowers are well up to the task of handling the long grass.

Another way that dealers, especially those who sell agricultural implements, can support pollinating bees is to advise farmers and contractors involved in hedgecutting to correctly time the flailing of our hedgerows. Not only will this encourage our bee population but it will also safeguard bird’s nesting sites using our hedgerows to rear their young. Hedgerows provide the four essential needs of pollinators: Source of pollen; places to breed; places to overwinter; act as corridors and pathways to travel across the landscape.

If you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you and your business to sign up to the ‘Business Supporters’ of the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. It is a very simple four stage process. Another advantage of signing up is that your business will be listed on the All Ireland Pollinator Plan website. This will show to the world that you and your business cares for and are interested in protecting our environment. Visit https://pollinators.ie for more information.

Try to bee friendly!!

Damien and Brian (Martyn Lawns) and David Taylor (STEC USA), flew to Demopark in Germany where they met with Emanuel Sezzi, the European sales manager for Muratori S.P.A.. They were very impressed with the company’s product range, build quality, and price. While on the visit Martyn Lawns were offered sole distributors for Ireland and they placed an order for equipment, which included fail mowers, power harrows, rotavators and stoneburiers. Martyns sister company, STEC USA, also agreed to take on Muratori in the USA.

Martyn Lawns got the opportunity to exhibit some of the Muratori attachments at the recent Glas exhibition in Citywest, Dublin.

The Martyn Lawns team pictured behind their Muratori power harrow which they exhibited at the recent Glas exhibition in Citywest. From left: Ken McMenamon, Terry Conway and Damien Martyn

The Muratori company was founded in 1949 by Alcide Muratori, as a small company of craftsmen who repaired agricultural machinery. During the 1950s the company began to build small tractors.

The production of agricultural machinery began at the beginning of the 1960s. Just a few years later, Muratori began exporting part of its products to nearby countries, which was the start of its strong export business venture.

The company grew and expanded, and in 1978 a new company was formed (Muratori S.P.A.) and a new factory (the present company headquarters) was built. Today, after further expansions, it occupies an area of over 6,000 m2.

Muratori S.P.A. is still run by the Muratori family. Lucio Muratori, son of the founder, is the present president, and his daughter, Elisa, is the managing director.

Currently, Muratori S.P.A. has one of the largest range in its sector, and includes:

• ROTARY HOES for tractors from 12 to 120 HP (working width from 85 cm to 305 cm)
• STONEBURIERS for tractors from 12 to 240 HP (working width from 85 cm to 405 cm)
• POWER HARROWS for tractors from 15 to 120 HP (working width from 90 cm to 300 cm)
• FINISHING MOWERS for tractors from 12 to 50 HP (working width from 120 cm to 230 cm)
• SHREDDERS/FLAIL MOWERS for grass, wood, hay, corn etc., for tractors from 15 to 100 HP (working width from 105 cm to 280 cm)
• STONEBURIER FOR TWO WHEELS TRACTORS up to 14 HP (working width from 66 cm to 84 cm)
• FERTILIZER SPREADERS for fertilizer (powder or granular), cereals or salt and sand to be used on icy or snowy roads, for tractors up to 30 HP

Muratori S.P.A. products are used in various sectors, such as: landscaping, professional gardening, vegetable gardening, vineyard, orchard and large scale farming. More than 90% of the production is exported.

Cyril Johnston & Co have become the latest pin in the dealer map of Charterhouse Turf Machinery.

Operating from their Carryduff depot, they are now responsible for the sale and service of the Redexim range of products, for both natural and synthetic surfaces, in Northern Ireland.

Charterhouse’s Ian Lauder (left), with Cyril Johnston professional sales rep Ian Ellis

Established over 60 years ago, Cyril Johnston stock a wide range of leading machinery for the amenity, golf and landscape sectors. With a team of over 40, they are well placed to offer professional support to a range of customers throughout Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and a number of the border counties.

Commenting on their appointment, sales manager Brian Mitchell said, “We are over the moon to have been appointed as a Charterhouse dealer and to have added such a varied selection of equipment to our portfolio. The performance of the Redexim products is outstanding and, as such, we are expecting fantastic uptake with professional users in our area, both old and new.”

Northern territory manager for Charterhouse, Ian Lauder added, “Cyril Johnston is a well-respected dealer, with a reputation built on providing excellent customer service to a broad range of customers. With so many years of experience and knowledge under their belts, we look forward to working with them to offer a more localised service across this area.”

Charterhouse are currently planning a number of Synthetic Turf Open Days held across the region, in conjunction with Cyril Johnston, the details of which will be announced in due course.

A custom-programmed robot has been used to precision line seven playing pitches in seven hours, surfaces which were a hotbed for the Renault GAA World Games 2019 at the Sports Campus of Waterford Institute of Technology.

It’s the first time ever that playing pitches in Ireland were marked using the Intelligent Marking robot. Lining pitches for the games could have been a major undertaking for the WIT Arena staff, as the lay-out, size and markings are a lot different to the standard Gaelic Games spec.

Intelligent Marking Ireland’s Micheál Nolan is a sports fanatic and brought the company’s Chief Technology Officer, Stefan Thilemann, from Denmark to oversee the line-marking of the WIT Arena pitches. “It typically takes two people between 3 and 5 hours to initially mark a GAA pitch. Our technology did it in less than an hour.

From left: Intelligent Marking Ireland's Micheál Nolan and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) Arena's David Grant pictured with Intelligent Marking Denmark’s Stefan Thilemann, and the "Intelligent One" robot.

“The pitches for the World Games are only 100 metres long, as opposed to the normal 140 to 150 metres GAA spec. There are no 45m or 65m lines and the centre line required for the World Games is the full pitch width.

“Lining seven pitches from scratch, some of them on Astro, and getting all of the markings and specs perfect would have taken the WIT Arena team approximately a week. It would have been a nightmare and would have held up the entire grounds staff.

“Setting the system up and inserting the required programme onto the tablet and lining the entire WIT Arena campus took only a few hours. We walked away for the rest of the day and let the robot do its job.

“We custom-built the layouts very quickly for this landmark event. Lining pitches with a robot is a first for Waterford and a first for the GAA and we are privileged to be supporting the preparations for such a fantastic event. Our system is available to buy or lease over a 5 year term and qualifies under the Sports Capital Grant programme,” Nolan said.

WIT Arena’s David Grant said: “It is an honour and a privilege for us to host the World Games. We’ve put months of work into ensuring every playing surface, every blade of grass is just right. It would have taken our team up to a week to mark the pitches. The Intelligent Marking Ireland system had everything done in a day. The lines and the various markings aren’t just right. They are absolutely spot on.

“There are big plans for the WIT Arena and we’re planning on investing in our own Intelligent Marking robot so we can focus our attention on other work while it marks the required lines on the various playing surfaces for us into the future.”

Headquartered in Denmark, Intelligent Marking is the developer of the world’s premier autonomous line marking robot, which lines pitches using a pre-programmed robot, GPS sub-station and a tablet device. The ‘Intelligent One’ model used in Waterford uses patented technology that allows the robot to line any pitch with sub-centimeter accuracy.

Intelligent One will be a Godsend for contractors, for colleges, universities, large sports facilities or any sporting facility that regularly has to repaint lines. The autonomous system frees ground staff to do other work and can operate in all weather conditions – including in the dark. Another huge benefit of using the system is its ability to quickly and effortlessly go from one pitch layout to another at the push of a button. It also makes last minute adjustments to the layout possible so grounds managers can shift the pitch in any direction to avoid heavy wear and tear to keep the grass surface in pristine condition.

Intelligent Marking’s Stefan Thilemann said the system is being used by sports grounds across the globe. “It’s pre-programmed for at least 50 different field lay-outs but we’re increasing this offering all the time. It’s simple to use while allowing users to customise the layout exactly according to their needs.

“It weighs just 60kg, takes up no more space than a typical push mower and is easy transportable in a normal van or estate car. It can even be driven up ramps for easier transport. Being a company that has always focused on making line marking a more manageable and enjoyable task by employing state-of-the-art technologies it is very rewarding getting feedback on the system as customers acknowledge the burden the system is taking away from them making them much more effective.”

Argo Tractors has announced that they have invested in the development of digital resources for Landini and McCormick dealers in Ireland and the UK.

The company say that "digital transformation" is so critical to success that it has made significant investments, introducing high-tech tools to expand commercial networks and enhance customer service performance.

"The investments made and the projects launched aim to provide dealers with all the tools they need to work in the best possible conditions, reducing operating costs, increasing profitability and boosting their image", said Antonio Salvaterra, marketing director of Argo Tractors.

The company has developed an application called Easy Sell that allows the sales force to present customers with products, technical specifications, brochures and videos, as well as to manage the prices of tractors and accessories to compile quotes on farm. It is also possible to share materials with the sales team, manage the CRM (Customer Relationship Management), view reports on visits, approve offers, use Google Maps, store minutes of meetings with customers, archive documents.

"This exchange of information within Argo Tractors has improved the sharing and updating of information", says Antonio, "thereby allowing all branches, importers and dealers to optimise their offers. And all this is complemented by the portal for used machines designed to allow our sales network to provide maximum visibility to products available anywhere on the planet, exponentially increasing the visibility of each tractor".

Argo say the digitalisation project also involves social networks. "For this reason we've planned training  sessions for all dealerships to promote widespread communications that can simply and quickly amplify dealers' messages, thus enabling them to spend more time offering services directly to the customer," said Antonio.

Following its launch at The Arb Show in May, the first batch of EVO 165 woodchippers recently left the GreenMech factory for dealerships across the country.

Jonathan Turner (pictured front) with members of the GreenMech design, engineering, production and sales team as the first batch of EVO 165 chippers leave the factory

The culmination of three years in design, testing and production, the new series is pictured above at despatch with a handful of those who took the machines from concept to completion.

Managing director Jonathan Turner said, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the reaction we’ve received to the new series. It’s been fantastic to see all the hard work come together, with the wealth of new features contributing to our most efficient chipper of this size to date.

"Now that they’re out with our dealers, we’re keen for more potential customers to see just what they can do.”

The Island Golf Glub is situated on a sand bar in North Co. Dublin. It was established in 1890, which makes it one of the oldest golf courses in Ireland. In fact it was one of the first twelve golf clubs founded in the country.

The club recently hosted the qualifying rounds of The 2019 Amateur Championship (17th and 18th of June). Previous winners of The Amateur Championship include Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia. This year’s winner was Corkman James Sugrue from Mallow Golf Club.

The Course Manager at Island Golf Club is Dave Edmondson and he relies on reliable machinery to maintain the course, not only for the recently held Amateur Championship, but throughout the whole year as well.

Dave Edmondson in front of some of his mowers

Dave is not from this part of the world but hails from Preston in Lancashire. Before coming to work at Island Golf Club, he spent time working at Royal Ostend Golf Club in Belgium.

Dave has an agreement with Reesink Turfcare IRL where he uses Toro equipment for maintaining his turf. Doug Reid, sales representative with Reesink Turfcare IRL is Dave’s contact with the company.

“We have a five year rolling plan with Reesink Turfcare IRL, when all our Toro machines are replaced. We get a good trade-in price for the old stock, as they are well maintained and serviced. This means we will always have up to date and reliable equipment to maintain the course”, said Dave.

Keith Byrne is Senior Greenkeeper at Island Golf Club and he also happens to be a qualified mechanic. Dave acknowledges how fortunate he is in having Keith when it comes to machinery repairs and service. Most of the grinding and back lapping is also done by Keith.

Hand mowing one of the greens at Island Golf Club

Other machinery items Dave has include a 3 ton and ½ ton Dakota sand spreader for topdressing fairways and greens respectively. He also has a Kubota tractor along with two Clubcar Carryalls which are both hired from The Buggy Man in Co. Kildare.

The equipment Dave has at his disposal is well capable of maintaining the most difficult areas of the course. He recently purchased an Amazon Profihopper rough mower, which allows him to maintain the long rough areas a lot better. These areas are only cut once a year so the grass can be very strong. “The Amazon Profi Hopper follows the humps and hollows very well, a lot better than anything I have had on site before” said Dave.

Having reliable equipment at Island Golf Club makes life a lot easier maintaining this superb links course. Long may it last.