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 The Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year 2016 Awards was launched at BTME Harrogate this week (19 January). It is the second year of the prestigious Awards, which aim to reward top sprayer operators across the amenity industry, and to share their best practice to enhance standards for all.The Awards, run by the Amenity Forum are sponsored by ICL and Syngenta, and supported by BASIS. Sprayer operators are encouraged to now enter one of four separate categories of the Award:Sports and amenity turf using boom sprayerSports and amenity turf using hand held equipmentHard and porous surfaces using vehicle mounted equipmentHard and porous surfaces / Invasive weed species using hand held equipmentThe 2015 winner of the Sports and amenity turf using a boom sprayer category, Andrew Kerr, Course Manager of West Malling Golf Club in Kent, highlighted the Award was positive recognition for the club and staff for the investment and attention to detail to consistently achieve accurate and safe spraying."We were…

 Effective spray application can make the crucial difference between an acceptable 95% control, and an outstanding result of 98% or more.More aggressive and difficult to control disease pathogens, including the increasing incidence of Anthracnose and Take All, pose greater challenges for turf managers, reports Syngenta Application Specialist, Tom Robinson.. "Turf presents a difficult spray target to achieve good spray retention on the leaf and coverage of lower leaves in a tightly packed fine turf situation. Penetrating the dense leaf area is important for soil-borne disease control, including Take All and Fairy Ring, requiring a very different approach to foliar disease control." The widespread use of liquid fertilisers on sports turf surfaces puts additional demands on spray application. Environmental and legislative pressures demand the highest possible standards in turf sprayer maintenance and application accuracy. Having invested in high uality control products, getting the very best…

Avoiding Anthracnose as summer heat rises Rising temperatures could trigger damaging Anthracnose attacks on turf quality this summer. The risk has been raised this year following record rainfall earlier in the season, which will have leached out nutrients and could have left turf plants deficient.Anthracnose (Colletotrichum graminicola) is the second most common disease on turf and widespread across the UK. The problem has been getting progressively worse in recent years.Possible reasons for increased Anthracnose issues:Higher average summer temperatures favour aggressive attacksDeficient nutrient levels increase susceptibilityLower cutting heights add stress on plantsGreater player demands quickly highlight surface quality loss Anthracnose can occur as Basal rot in cool, wet weather through late autumn and winter, but in summer it's the Foliar blight infection that gives rise to irregular patches of tan-yellow infection which affect surface playing quality, and can result in extensive die…

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 Dan McGrath MG, Course Manager atNorth Foreland Golf Club - and winner of the Operation Pollinator Award 2013 - offers his practical advice on what has worked for them in establishing a successful and incredibly valuable ecological asset for wildlife and the club. What site did you choose for the Operation Pollinator areas, and why?The site had previously been unmanaged for 30+yrs, with extensive ground ivy to knee depth that had taken over the chalk grassland rough. Site selection was due to it being largely out of play with limited foot traffic. At the same time it was close enough to have visual value to the golfers and general public. We have selected two sites with different aspects, to determine which conditions favour the target species and our longer term goals.How did you choose the seed mixture?We studied available wildflower mixes with all the main seed breeders, and then sought to match that with what is native to our chalk grassland cliff-top site. This year we have gone for a…

 New electron microscopy has given a fascinating insight into turf disease development and a better understanding of how fungicide activity can tackle pathogens before they cause visible damage. Find out more about DISEASE PROTECTION ON THE OUTSIDE in part 1 of a series of Turf Science in Action technical bulletins...  

How to LabelAll packages containing Primo Maxx II need to be labelled to reflect the reclassification as flammable.5 litre & 10 litre packs: IN ORIGINAL FIBREBOARD BOX: Download the appropriate hazard label below and place over the existing hazard label on the outside of the box. All bottles inside the box must also be relabelled as flammable. There are 2 different hazard labels; for the 5 litre pack use the “5 litre and below” hazard label and for the 10 litre pack use the “over 5 litre” hazard label.5 litre & 10 litre packs: BOTTLES ONLY: Download the appropriate hazard label below and place over the existing hazard label on the bottle. There are 2 different hazard labels; for the 5 litre pack use the “5 litre and below” hazard label and for the 10 litre pack use the “over 5 litre” hazard label.20 litre drums: Download the appropriate hazard label below and place over existing hazard labelIf it is not possible to print out new hazard labels, as a minimum each container must be marked…

 The removal of grass clippings with every cut takes away nutrients that must be replaced to maintain turf health. Therefore, reducing the clipping yield with a growth regulator programme should correspondingly make more efficient use of fertiliser inputs, whilst maintaining turf colour and health.All nutrients are removed in grass clippings - with nitrogen (N) the major nutrient component, along with potassium (K) and, to a lesser extent, phosphorus and calcium.Water and nutrient loss through clippings: The nutrient content equates to around 14kg of N per tonne of fresh grass clippings, along with nine kg of K2O.Regulating turf growth and clipping removal can enable turf managers and agronomists to be more accurate in their use of fertiliser applications that are better matched to growing conditions and the specific requirements of the turf, to maintain high quality playing surfaces.More efficient targeted use of nitrogen will prove to be cost effective and good for the environment.The reduction…

 Although conditions have been unseasonably mild so far this December, long-term weather forecasters are predicting one of the coldest ever winters for the UK this year, with predictions of deep snow and prolonged frosts.A number of weather pattern indicators suggest it will be worse than December 2010, when the UK experienced 23 days with an air frost, an average temperature of -0.9°C and an extreme average minimum of -4.1°C - over five degrees below the norm. Winter 2010 was certainly extreme - with the heaviest and most extensive early snowfall for 45 years. But it was not unprecedented; with similar periods of snow cover recorded the previous year, from late December 2009 into January 2010.And if you look at trends for the past five years, the December temperature has indeed been above the long-term average only once. The prospect of prolonged snow cover and cold induced stress significantly increases the risk of Microdochium (Fusarium) Patch. Whilst air temperatures may be cold, the snow…

 New turf agronomics that utilise exciting combinations of fungicides, growth regulators and wetting agents could alleviate plant stress and enhance turf quality, to produce consistently improved playing conditions right through the year.Essential turf management to meet the increasingly stringent demands of today's golfer, along with tough environmental conditions created by weather extremes and polluted air quality, impose immense stress on turf. The result is turf plant health being constantly assailed by the challenge of free radicals.Free radicals are a by-product of normal cellular metabolism, but during periods of stress their numbers can increase significantly and the antioxidant capacity of the plant overwhelmed. Highly-active free radicals, or Reactive Oxidative Species (ROS), move around within the plant, bombarding healthy cells in an effort to equalize their electron imbalance. In the process, healthy plant tissue can be irrevocably damaged, and consequently turf quality suffers…