Firstly today, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank a number of my work colleagues for their effort in ensuring the success of this year’s Service Dealer Conference & Awards held on November 15th at the Oxford Belfry Hotel.

I personally enjoyed meeting so many industry professionals and having the chance to talk in depth about some of the challenges facing our industry in the coming years.

Service Dealer owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke, hosted the day and began by acknowledging the fact that this past season had been quite a trying one for many outdoor powered machinery dealers. However, said Duncan, "We have a room full of talented dealers here and we're here to look ahead to what the next 30 years might throw at us and how we are going to not just cope, but thrive in the world of groundcare and agriculture."

I have personally seen for myself how much our industry has changed in the last thirty years, particularly in terms of increased efficiencies and the wider choice of machinery, equipment, products and services we now have available. Who knows what the next thirty years will bring?

Attention of the Conference quickly turned to what may lie ahead in the coming years for the specialist dealer network and our industry in general, with a fascinating presentation from futurist Ed Gillespie. As well as being a futurist, Ed is also a writer, serial entrepreneur plus a board director of a farm, located underground in disused London tube station.

Ed Gillespie

Ed spoke of how the future won't simply be an extension of today - but rather in considering what the future might be, we should be stretching the idea of what we may consider impossible. Ed said that that changes in the future will see some jobs destroyed, but many new ones created. The farming industry for example, said Ed, will focus on small, autonomous robots rather than large tractors. He also believed that our transactional system of purchasing equipment outright, would move more into a system of sharing services.

Ed also spoke of how the concept of increased urbanisation in the future shouldn't necessarily be thought of as a bad thing. With innovations like vertical farming, green roofs and 'hairy buildings', cities could well feature more green spaces than ever before.

Which brings me onto the matter of the value of green space. Last year, parks and green spaces minister, Marcus Jones, launched a new Parks Action Group to help England’s public parks and green spaces meet the needs of communities now and in the future.

Parks are an essential part of the fabric of all our communities. Whether for health and wellbeing, exercise, relaxation, places to volunteer and socialise, for children to play, encountering nature, adapting to climate change or just providing a place to gather your thoughts. Let alone all the environmental and biodiversity benefits.

With national research showing that parks and green spaces are the most used local public facilities with over 37 million visits annually, and a growing problem of obesity and inactivity in young people, they have never been more important to the future of our nation.

However, as we all know, for many years, local authorities have been reducing budgets through successive financial challenges. Some parks budgets have now been cut by 100% with other authorities now proposing to sell off parks.

Where once our Victorian ancestors led the world in public parks for public benefit we now enviously look on as other countries invest and maintain parks to a much higher degree as they place parks at the centre of the long-term health, wellbeing and community cohesion strategies.

The need for quality parks and green spaces has never been greater; and neither has the communities’ expectations and desire to see their local green space maintained and improved.

I personally believe, that we as an industry should find ways to support this new Parks Action Group to help safeguard the future of our green open spaces and land assets.
Many of our large organisations and manufacturers should by default ensure we are seen to be backing this initiative and helping drive the message home of the value of these assets.

We should also participate in many annual fundraising events to raise the profile and at the same time raise funds. Why not start our ow industry campaign (Green Nose Day?) which could help raise awareness of the value of green spaces and at the same time raise money which we can use to safeguard the future of these assets.

All of the existing recognised organisations, such as the RHS, Fields in Trust, University and colleges APSE, IOG, BIGGA, BALI, English Heritage, National Trust, Green Flag, and many more could all support this new initiative which would in turn help galvanise our industry and help stimulate the future protection of these valuable parks and open spaces.

Turning attention to the weather, for most groundsmen and greenkeepers the next few months will be the most challenging, with air and soil temperatures dropping - added with the threat of freezing conditions and plenty of rain.

In my role as pitch advisor for the RFU, I am constantly seeing the damage done by the lack of essential aeration work being carried out on club pitches. This has the net result of pitches becoming unplayable, losing grass cover and becoming compacted.

Once a pitch becomes saturated, meaning all the pore (air) spaces in the soil profile remain filled with water, then we are in a situation of the pitch being in a poor state and thus it will be prone to damage.

It is important to understand what soil type you have on your pitch, as the ability of the pitch to drain freely and how long it takes for floodwater or surface water to disperse from your pitch, will be dictated by the type of soil you have.

However, the main contributing factor that reduces and damages pore spaces in soil is compaction caused by compression forces, normally associated with play and use of machinery - particularly during wet weather periods.

Playing on saturated pitches will bring disastrous results. It is often better to postpone a fixture rather than ruin the playing surface for the rest of the season. Scrummage and line-out play are the main causes of damage on rugby pitches during wet weather periods. The severity of the damage will be dependent upon the soil type and the ability of the top 100mm to drain quickly.

To help alleviate compaction problems a programme of aeration is necessary. There are a wide range of professional aerators for use on winter turf pitches, available as walk-behind, ride-on, trailed or tractor mounted units.

Depending on the condition of the soil you should be aerating on a monthly basis, trying to aerate to a depth of between 100-200mm.

Once a year you should aim to aerate to a greater depth (200-300mm) using a larger, more powerful aerator. This will help dramatically, especially if you can topdress the pitch immediately afterwards with sand, enabling this material to go down into the aeration holes.

On the first day of SALTEX 2018, Sherriff Amenity’s new app, PrecisionPro, was announced as the winner of the second, annual SALTEX Innovation Award.

Sherriff Amenity celebrate their SALTEX Innovation Award 2018

Established at the show in 2017, the SALTEX Innovation Award was created to encourage innovation excellence and celebrate the best products within the groundscare industry. The organisers say the award is bestowed on projects that have a significant impact and ultimately make life easier for the person using them.

SALTEX say this year’s awards received a record number of high quality entries from across the UK and beyond - spanning a wide variety of products, services and equipment. With the entries submitted and rigorously evaluated by an independent panel of judges, it was decided that there were three stand-out innovations - the Toro Outcross 9060 from Reesink Turfcare, PrecisionPro from Sherriff Amenity and the ROBOCUT from McConnel.

The three finalists were given a final opportunity to impress the judges as they took to the stage in the all new Innovation Hub. Representatives from each company delivered a product presentation in front of a packed audience causing the judges much deliberation before making their final decision.

Sherriff Amenity’s PrecisionPro was pronounced the overall winner. Second place went to the Toro Outcross 9060; a super-duty utility vehicle, designed specifically to simplify the groundsman’s day-to-day turf maintenance jobs. Third place went to the McConnel ROBOCUT; an all-terrain remote-control work platform that boosts safety, productivity and efficiency.

The winning innovation, PrecisionPro, is a dedicated app for sports turf to measure any area, guide the operator in calibrating a spreader for any granular product and also help apply fertilisers accurately.

According to Sherriff Amenity, PrecisionPro was created due to the common issue of turf managers misjudging green/sport surface size which often results in problems such as over applying or under applying fertilisers - both of which can have a negative effect on turf performance, disease and budget.

PrecisionPro allows turf managers to have an accurate measured area by opening the app and walking the perimeter of the area. Sherriff say calibrating spreaders has always been a difficult task but with the Calibrate feature in the PrecisionPro app, users are guided through each step of the process. Furthermore, its advanced GPS functionality informs the user when to start and stop the calibration process.

The app also features a function to ensure that every operator walks at the same speed - if someone is walking too fast or too slow then they are alerted by colour coded screens. As well as calculating the g/m2 and the operator’s walking speed, the Apply feature ultimately ensures that the exact amount of nutrition is being applied to the turf.

Commenting on the award, Karl Parry, Sherriff Amenity’s PrecisionPro developer, said, “We are really excited to win this award. PrecisionPro has been a long time in the making but it has all been made worthwhile now. SALTEX was the official launch of the app and after we won the award people kept coming onto the stand to find out more about it, so the word definitely got round at the show.

“I’m really proud of the whole team because it has been a big collaborative effort.”

ICL has joined forces with Royal Holloway, University of London to embark on a unique four-year research project which will look in detail at the effects of seaweed products on turfgrass plant parasitic nematodes.

The project is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and ICL.

Research student, Tamsin Williams and ICL international technical manager, Andy Owen

“It came about following a discussion with Andy Owen (ICL International Technical Manager) at a greenkeeper meeting a couple of years ago,” says Alan Gange, Professor of Microbial Ecology at Royal Holloway. “We started talking about the need for turfgrass research, particularly focused on nematodes because we had noticed that in the last ten years greenkeepers and groundsmen have become much more aware of these and they appeared to be becoming a real problem.”

Alan believes that the rise of nematodes could potentially be attributed to the loss of certain chemicals and the effects of climate change. As it stands, there are few options available for the turf manager who has a nematode problem but Alan feels that seaweed could well offer a sustainable solution.

“There are scattered reports that some seaweed products or extracts, contain various chemicals which can protect plants against pests and diseases. We think that when the right seaweed is applied to a grass plant it could change the resistance of the plant to disease and insect attack. Nematode infection could then be reduced when the seaweed product is applied. So that is the essence of what we are trying to do here in sports turf.

"Someone asked me a while ago if we are creating antibiotics for plants and in a way that is indeed what we are trying to do - we are trying to harness the plant’s natural resistance mechanism and improve it."

ICL say their SeaMax product, which is used as a bio-stimulant and fertilizer, has been a huge success in the sports turf industry. It contains a premium high concentration of Atlantic Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed extract, sustainably harvested from renewable resources by Acadian Seaplants. "We have already shown many turf benefits through using Seamax," says Andy Owen, "and we wanted to explore its capabilities further, with a more detailed research project with Royal Holloway."

Integral to the research project is student Tamsin Williams, who was successfully appointed following a rigorous interview process. Tamsin, who throughout the four-year project will be working with ICL to better understand how the commercial side of the sports turf industry works, believes that this studentship was a perfect fit for her ambitions to develop a career in research.

“In my previous role I was working on pathogen and insect bio-control using fungal bio-pesticides. I had also worked with plant parasitic nematodes before, so when I heard this was a bio-control project for nematodes I felt that it was perfect and it made so much sense to apply. Nematology is one of my main interests, but it’s also the fact that seaweed products are sustainable - we could be finding an environmentally friendly solution for a serious turf problem, which potentially could transfer to other crops as well. This makes it a really valuable research topic."

Tamsin has already begun her experiments looking at how plants and the soil microbiota respond to SeaMax seaweed application, before she will add plant parasitic nematodes into the study. However, these are just the first steps in an ever-evolving project according to Andy Owen.

“We will start with a proof of concept to gather further evidence that it does indeed work. In subsequent years there will be a focus on investigating the modes of action that are occurring, and then optimising applications in terms of rates, timings and frequency, so that we can provide the right advise to the end-user.

“Hopefully this project will generate the research to show turfgrass managers that certain approaches can help support and develop a plant’s resistance to pests and diseases and that you might require fewer synthetic chemical applications,” adds Alan. “Ultimately providing a sustainable and integrated management approach to keep surfaces healthy.

“As an ecologist it concerns me that many biological products, which contain microbes, are being sold in the turf marketplace with little or no supporting research behind them whatsoever. It is never published in reviewed journals and therefore with most of the products, one has suspicions about them because you just don’t know what independent research has been conducted. However, ICL genuinely want to find out more about their own products and they are committed to research.”

In re-iterating Alan’s sentiments, Andy confirmed that ICL will look to publish this work where possible and intend to present the data openly at a number of events. The industry will be able to gain a greater insight into the project in January 2019 when Alan’s research group will speak at BTME’s Continue to Learn education programme.

“What we want to do is support our products with robust research, and ensure that any claims we are making can be fully substantiated,” he says If anyone would like to find out more then come along to BTME in Harrogate next year.

“From our point of view, we are really excited to be working with Royal Holloway on this project. We are always looking to do independent research on our products and you don’t see very much of this happening in the turf industry. I can’t wait to see how it develops.”

GreenMech have announced a rearrangement of their dealer cover in Devon and Somerset.

As of 14th November 2018, Andrew Symons Ltd has been handling sales and support for Devon, with dedicated GreenMech specialists operating out of three depots.

L to R: Andrew Symons, Simon Newsome, Luke Liversidge (Andrew Symons service technician) with Julian Cullis (GreenMech)

Stocking a wide variety of equipment for agricultural, construction, gardening and groundcare applications, family-run Andrew Symons Ltd have over 30 years of experience offering sales and support for a number of leading brands. The groundcare team headed up by Simon Newsome at the Crediton depot, alongside Lee Hatter at South Molton and Dave Daniel at Holsworthy, will become GreenMech product specialists. Their knowledge, backed up by a fully trained service department, will see the GreenMech product reach a range of customers including holiday parks, golf course, municipal areas and much more.

Commenting on their appointment, dealer principle Andrew Symons said, “We are extremely proud to be appointed the new GreenMech dealer for the Devon area. We feel GreenMech offer a superb range of products that complement our existing portfolio and will suit both professional and domestic users.”

Completing the rearrangement, existing GreenMech dealer New Forest Farm Machinery, will be extending their territory to cover Somerset. Having picked up the GreenMech franchise in May 2017 for the Hampshire and Dorset areas, they will now offer sales and support for customers in Somerset, operating out of their new dealerpoint in Sparkford, Wincanton.

Michael Grey has been appointed the new strategic account manager for turf and other non-agricultural equipment at John Deere Limited, replacing Brian D’Arcy.

Michael Grey (right) with Brian D'Arcy

Working from the John Deere Limited headquarters at Langar near Nottingham, Michael is now responsible for maintaining existing and developing new relationships with strategic and key account customers throughout the UK and Ireland, with support from the company’s national dealer networks.

Michael Grey studied Agricultural Business Management at Reading University and joined John Deere in January 2012 as an area aftermarket manager covering Ireland, Wales, the West Midlands and south-west England. He was then promoted to territory manager for central and southern England in 2015 before taking up his new role at the beginning of October.

“Michael’s customer and dealer experience gained over nearly seven years on territory will serve as a very good foundation for his new position as strategic account manager,” said turf division sales manager Chris Meacock.

After joining the company as a demonstrator in 2007, Brian D’Arcy (below) was promoted to product sales specialist in 2008, then territory manager for Wales and the West Midlands in July 2009 before taking on the strategic account manager role in 2014.

Brian has recently been promoted to the post of product manager for compact & utility tractors in Region 2 (Europe, CIS, North Africa and the Near & Middle East), based at Deere’s European HQ in Mannheim, Germany.

Following the recent merger of R. Hunt Ltd with existing KUHN dealer, New Forest Farm Machinery, KUHN UK has appointed the newly created Hunt Forest Group as an approved supplier of its full range of amenity and agricultural equipment.

The appointment extends the manufacturer's coverage in the South and South West of England: in addition to the existing KUHN stockists at New Forest Farm Machinery’s depots at Sparkford in Somerset and Ringwood in Hampshire, its products will also be available from the R. Hunt depots at Chilbolton and North Warnborough in Hampshire, Tilshead in Wiltshire and Rookley, Isle of Wight.

As well as agricultural products, Hunt will distribute KUHN’s full range of amenity products

“The amalgamation of R. Hunt and New Forest Farm Machinery to form Hunt Forest Group has been met with a huge amount of positivity from our customers in Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset and Isle of Wight,” explains Tim Hunt, managing director of the new business.

“Hunt Forest Group specialises in a range of key sectors including agricultural machinery, professional turf machinery, construction equipment, and homeowner machinery. Our affiliation with KUHN enables us to extend this offering and gives our customers access to a much broader range of agricultural and amenity equipment.

“We look forward to extending KUHN’s technical sales advice, aftersales support and specialist parts expertise to our growing customer base.”

Sian Pritchard, managing director of KUHN UK said of Hunt Forest Group, “Their expertise and professional approach to sales and aftersales support in the farming and groundcare sectors perfectly complements and strengthens our existing network of approved distributors in southern England. Their appointment demonstrates our commitment to both sectors within the region and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with the staff at all six of their depots.”

Bernhard and Company has announced that Stuart Hall has recently joined as its customer care manager.

Stuart has moved from Reesink Turfcare UK Ltd, distributor for Toro, where he was service manager for East Anglia. His previous role was service manager for P. Tuckwell, a John Deere dealership.

Managing a rapidly growing turf workshop for both companies, he covered Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire for the John Deere range of professional turf equipment and the whole of East Anglia for Reesink Turfcare, including routine servicing, emergency repairs, cylinder grinding and winter overhauls.

Bernhard say that with his strong background in agricultural engineering and his experience in all aspects of greenkeeping, machinery maintenance and customer service, Stuart is going to be a key asset for themselves. 

“We are delighted to have Stuart on board,” says Steven Nixon, director of Bernhard and Company. “Stuart greatly strengthens our ability to support our customers and business partners, both existing and future, helping them from installation through to training, delivering service and supporting all our current solutions. We are now even better equipped to see projects through from conception to completion, offering expertise and assistance all the way.”

Stuart added, “I have followed Bernhard and Company closely over the years and I have always been impressed by the level of customer service, training and education that it provides, This is an exciting time for me to join the company as it progresses on developing turf health solutions and ensuring that customers get the support they require. I really look forward to working closely with Bernhard’s global customer base and supporting the Bernhard team in the field.”

Germinal has recruited Alan Thomson as its new amenity technical sales representative for Scotland and the North East of England.

Based from his home in Glasgow, Alan will provide technical sales support to Germinal’s customers throughout his region, and will be responsible for promoting the company’s range of Grade-A sports and amenity grass seed mixtures to golf course greenkeepers, turf growers, sports groundsmen and landscapers.

Currently training with the STRI to gain his FACTS (Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme) qualification, Alan will also be responsible for promoting Germinal’s specialist amenity fertiliser range which includes conventional compound products as well as liquid and phased-release fertilisers and specialist sward conditioners. Alan will also promote the company's range of regional and general landscaping wildflower seed mixtures.

Alan joins Germinal from Glasgow-based John Deere dealership, Nairn Brown, where he was the company’s area sales manager for the central Scotland region. Prior to this he has worked as the Scottish sales manager for Tacit Golf and also has previous greenkeeping experience from his time at Bothwell Castle Golf Club.

A duo of awards topped off a fantastic week for the Cub Cadet team at the recent IOG SALTEX 2018, with one given and one received.

The annual IOG Awards event, which saw Devonshire Park Grounds Team collect the ‘INFINICUT Tennis Grounds Team of the Year’, was followed by the announcement that the company’s exhibition stand had been crowned ‘Best in Category’.

John Coleman (left) with PAN Publicity managing director Tony Evans

During the evening, recognising outstanding achievements throughout the industry, it was down to MTD Specialty Turf Products managing director John Coleman to present the accolade to Danny Negus and his team.

On arrival at the show the following morning John was delighted to find a certificate of his own, the ‘Best Stand in Category’ for open space 60m2 plus.

One of 8 designed and built by agency PAN Publicity, a pleased John said, “SALTEX turned out to be a fantastic show with attendees from across the industry coming to talk to us. This year we moved to a new, larger position at the front of the halls so we wanted a stand that would really make a statement. Our agency, PAN, came up with the design and we couldn’t be happier with how it worked for us. Getting the recognition for our efforts capped off a hugely successful week

BLOWING IN THE WIND
The value of leaf blowers

DUTY OF CARE
Keeping up to date with training

AN OPTIMISTIC SALTEX
Innovation was the buzzword

SHOW TIME
A celebration of our industry

ARTIFICIAL WORRIES
Injuries and infections in the news

CHANGE, CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY
At the Amenity Forum Conference

PARKS IN DEEP MIRE
Problem highlighted by national newspaper

RYDER CUP GLORY
Dedicated greenkeepers shine in Paris

DREAMS COME TRUE!
Dedication pays off

REASONS TO BE GLEEFUL
Trade show illustrates diversity of our industry

INTEGRATED USE OF PESTICIDE PRODUCTS
Following good practice

UNDERSTANDING YOUR SOIL
Challenging conditions this year

THE SHOWS MUST GO ON
Our main industry events are a must visit

CRICKET RENOVATIONS
Plan and prepare early

CRISIS FOR GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL PITCHES
And the selling of Wembley Stadium

GREEN NOSE DAY
Highlighting the work of turf professionals

SUMMER CHALLENGES
Difficult time for our whole industry

WORLD CUP MANIA
Every pitch stood up to the demands

RAISING THE FLAG
In praise of the The Green Flag Award® scheme