It was a great month for catching up with people about 2024, and getting under the skin of many of the issues facing turf management teams.
I love getting to speak to so many about what’s going on and how the agronomic situation is changing.
I was lucky enough to attend two major turf events in January which had some interesting insights:
ATPI Conference Ireland
Ireland’s sports turf show in Galway in the second week of January.
As ever, a great event was put on with good attendance from Irish superintendents. If you are thinking of visiting next year read more here.
If you get the opportunity to attend I would grab it, the more turf managers are able to support the better the event can be, and all the better for networking with those in a similar situation to yourself.
Some great education and speakers over from the US. With talks split into to streams on golf, horse racing and stadiums. With additional support from the R&A team this year.
I stayed in the golf stream and watched talks on biodiversity, future tech, microbiology (prof. Jim Kerns – the guy who developed the Smith- Kerns model for dollar spot) and Open insights from Graeme Beatt from Royal Portrush GC.
Thank you to the ATPI for putting such a good event together.
And thanks to the ICL Ireland team, Colman & Fergal for hosting me on the stand.
Education and talks on offer:
BTME
Where to start!
Glenn and I arrived Saturday and left Thursday when the show closed, it felt a long time but as always enjoyed it thoroughly!
It’s one of my favorite events of the year, the perfect opportunity to get up-to-date with what’s going on in the turf grass industry.
Let that not just be from the exhibitors in the trade show, but in all the fantastic education BIGGA organises and the informal conversations with peers throughout the week!
Coping with climate change
Sunday morning saw me and Glenn run an interactive workshop on coping with climate change, what we are expecting, how to capture data at your site to help you mitigate and communicate what’s coming down the pipe.
Well attended and great to have such an engaged group in the room!
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE FOR FUTURE TURF MANAGEMENT
My Biologicals R&D colleague Dr Eric Chen had another talk on Monday, shining a light on all things biological, and the fascinating moves in this space.
I couldn’t be there but I was privy to a private screening the week before and there were some really interesting insights.
Much more to come in this space!
Closed transfer system
A first in turf we hosted a « Closed transfer system » on the Syngenta stand.
These bottles « Evopac » will replace all our range in the coming years, with the first examples expected to land with you this year.
See the photo below and read the full details here.
Proved really popular with everyone I demoed it with, the potential to reduce environmental and operator exposure when adding PPP’s to the sprayer seems an obvious step and a positive one for the industry.
Farmers have had them in agriculture for a while but it would be great to see the first install in a turf situation, so do reach out if you have plans so I can tell the wider industry about your learnings.
ASOOTY Winner
Peter Pattenden (of Carden Park) won this years Amenity Sprayer Operator of the year award.
In a touching speech at the BIGGA awards evening he thanked last years winner Dan Waring (of JCB GC) for inspiring him to dig deep into sprayer operation, and apply!
Read up on Peter’s journey here.
Congratulations to a deserving winner.
Turf Advisor demo
I’ve blogged a lot about the Turf Advisor app this year, but it was great to have a larger than life -live version of the app on the stand.
We had turf management teams huddled around the display to discuss the best ways to set up their dashboards for the challenges they face.
The main issue with the app being so individually customisable is it really does mean there is no ‘one size fits all‘ approach.
Every teams dash, even every member in the team will be slightly different.
The important thing is to know what each of the modules can do for you and how to use it best.
Syngenta Early Bird run
A slightly marmite event, with the early start after what can be a long night of networking and catching up with peers before it.
We had a great turnout again this year with over 50 runners looking fresh (at least in the before photo below!).
Thanks to all those who braved it, and the BIGGA team who martial the event along the fairly hilly Harrogate track.
I wouldn’t be writing this now without those fluro jackets to guide me around the next bend.
If you are on the fence, do get stuck in next year, it’s a great way to start the day and a really good group!
It’s a fun run and not a race, but I did stretch ICL’s Phil Collinson on the sprint finish…
Microdochium Matters Seminar
Packed seminar for my talk on Microdochium matters on the Wednesday, barely a free seat in the house!
Must of been a rumour of free ice-cream for attending?
I covered some of the trials Syngenta have done against the disease over the last two years, drilled down into the driving factors and got the audience involved in which cultural practices help the most in the industry’s opinion.
GEA awards
Always a great evening celebrating the great and good in environmental stewardship in Golf.
Goring and Streatley GC won the Operation Pollinator award. Read about the other winners here. Congratulations to Matt, Mel and the team on all the hard work!
A special shout out to Andy Reason, deputy at North Hants GC for winning the Conservation Champion of the year award. I’ve seen first hand some of the great work he has been doing at North Hants, and it’s great.
Thanks to the STRI and sponsors for putting it all together and for such a good night.
So much more goes on at BTME than I’ve been able to mention here, so sorry to all the stories which missed out.
Do put it in the diary for next year, or send some members of the team to open them up to new ideas and insights which can be brought to bear on the home turf.
Thanks to all those who came to the stand to catch up, ask or question or see a demo.
Looking forward to next year already!
