Magazine - Turf Producers Australia Field Day

By Rob Jenkins in Shows and seminars on 25th Mar 2009 21:35

Turf Producers Australia recently held their annual conference and Expo, this year it was Melbourne's turn to host. The opening day of the conference was held at Crowne Plaza Hotel, and included presentations from John Lloyd and Stuart Burgess both from the HAL Industry Advisory, Bruce Stephens from Anco Seed and Turf, Bob Greasley from Rochedale Turf and Kevin Sheedy. A tour of Flemington racecourse, Telstra Dome and the MCG also took place. 

Day two was a field day, and open to the public. It was held out at Cranbourne West, on the perfect location that is the Anco turf farm.

This has been the first Turf Producers Expo I have attended, I must admit one of my favourite parts of this job is seeing shows for other areas of our industry which I would normally never get the chance to have a look at. Most of us stick to our own specific shows and seminars relevant to the area we work in be it golf or groundsmanship, we never have a chance to learn about other branches of our industry, yet it's highly worthwhile and educational to attend something outside your normal square. 

Another first on the day for me was visiting Anco's Cranbourne turf farm. Anco has been around for thirty years, they have been growing and supplying turf to Victoria's landscapers, golf courses, racetracks, sportsfields and home gardeners. They have farms located across Melbourne at Cranbourne West, Clyde, Five Ways and Torquay. They also have retail stores at their Cranbourne and Geelong locations. 

As I drove into the entrance it was good to see the carpark had a healthy amount of cars and a few coaches parked up. Once parked it was only a short walk into the closest paddock next to the offices and work sheds, where the field day began. A brief look down the middle and I counted around 20 to 30 companies displaying their products. There was a healthy mix of equipment there ranging from tractors equipped with turf harvesters, dedicated harvesting machines, other turf companies and turf varieties as well as sprayers and 3 point linkage equipment.

The show was arranged in a horse shoe shape with the lunch tents being at the front entrance. Going down both sides of the lunch tents were the exhibitors tents. Behind all the tents and in the middle was room for demonstrations of various equipment.

One of my first stops was to the Globe Australia stand. Turfmach were next to Globe as they were about to make the announcement that Globe were to become distributor for the Turfmach range. With more reps on the ground and a better network, it should help Turfmach's great machinery reach a wider audience around Australia. The reason for Turfmach being my first stop, was due to a a shiny new yellow machine catching my eye. Upon close inspection and a chat with Nick Kuzmaov from Total Turf Machinery, I learned it was a new remote control TTR3. By now most of us are familiar with the TTR3; it has several uses including verticuting, dethatching, scarifying, sweeping, cleaning up storm damage, collecting leaves, stolon harvesting and core harvesting. The new machine as pictured will create a whole new fan base. As the new TTR3 hasn't been released there was unfortunately no literature to go with it. The TTR3 has a Kohler engine fitted, and a remote for controlling the engines speed similar to the one found on their buffalo blowers range. The machine has not lost any of its power as a later demo also proved. The engine puts out around 60hp. The beauty I saw in the new TTR3 was its potential for the golf market, the addition of this Kohler engine will make it available for all small tractors and even with a small adjustment for Pro Gators and the Workman from John Deere and Toro. If you ever see one of these machines in action, it's well worth waiting around to see the catcher opened, they remove an incredible amount of thatch!

Not far along I stopped at the Autofarm gps-Ag stand. Autofarm are about to expand into the turf market. If you have never heard of Autofarm, they have been transforming farming productivity with their innovative technology in GPS steering and machine control from visual guidance, to sub-inch accurate and repeatable RTK steering. They have the world’s first implement steering system. With the possibilities endless in the turf industry, from turf farms to golf courses they could revolutionise the way we spray. With systems that can reduce overlap to under 2cm, they take the human error out of spraying. They are well worth a look if you ever see them out and about.
Head to www.gpsfarm.com if you want to read more about them.

One part of the show I really enjoyed was seeing the turf harvesters. I confess I knew nothing about them, they are amazing machines!

Evergreen displayed and put on a demo of their Kesmac and Brouwer harvesters. The new John Deere SLAB-MATIC 2700 Automatic Slab Sod Harvester was first on display. The 2700 was fully automatic from cutting the turf to stacking it onto pallets. Even reloading the next pallet can be done from the comfort of the tractor seat. With Hydraulic auto-steer and adjustable cut off lengths of 24 or 48 inches, and a simple LCD display screen for monitoring and adjustments, it was a great first introduction into the world of turf harvesting.

Also from Kesmac was a compact 2200 Instant turf harvester. With an adjustable independent cross conveyor and a pivoting head design for an even cut. All controls where joystick operated, and it also had the auto steer function with an hydraulic depth control, that was at both driver and stacker's end. A smart canopy was also fitted over the entire tractor and stacker areas.

Evergreen also displayed the Brouwer Robomax II. I must admit they first thing I noticed when I looked at it, was the amount of hydraulic hoses compared to the Kesmac. Straight away this made me a little wary of it compared to the big Kesmac. Once the harvester started however all my concerns were soon forgotten. The Brouwer was an amazing machine the main difference being that it rolled the turf, compared to the cut slabs of the slabmatic. The Robomax also appeared to be a lot more productive, as in quicker than the Slab Matic.  With less bars around the conveyor visibility also appeared greater. It has an adjustable cut of between 16" and 24"  in width and 24" to 100" in length. It also had a control screen inside the cab.

Next on the line was the Trebro Shortcut. Auto Stack and Harve Stack have combined their technology in a new revolutionary design, it's built from the ground up. It was another one man operational harvester. The tractor had a 99hp John Deere engine, and like the Robomax before it had a good productivity rate. It looked a lighter weight than the other two big harvesters. It stacked 48" pallets, five at a time, nine layers high. The driver's station also looked more roomy than the tractors before it. All in all it was an impressive purpose built from the ground up machine.

Also on a stand were the Magnum Harvesters, although I didn't get to see them in operation. The Magnum on display was called the Big Roll. These machines cut the sod rolls usually seen in stadiums. Like the other harvesters they cut and roll all in one motion. They roll the biggest sods in the market, so if size matters this is your harvester! The Magnum uses a patented net application that reinforces tender sod and loose soil, so you can realise the full benefits of big rolls. The Magnum harvests any type of sod, and by harvesting less mature grasses, it gives you quicker turnaround on your sod.

And then of course there were the small sod cutters you see on most golf courses. Marketed as Brouwer by Jacobsen they need no introduction. 

Advanced Seed had on display their Evergreen turf covers. The Evergreen Turf cover can significantly improve establishment rates and plant vigour of bentgrass on newly sown greens. They also promote higher levels of moisture retention in the rootzone. This is relevant for anyone looking at growing in fairways or greens in the cooler areas of N.Z or Tasmania, as they're great for keeping frost off.

The Globe stand were handing out free soil check ups at the show. Anyone interested should phone 1800 244 300, I might get in trouble for mentioning that one! Also on the stand was the Agri-vator which was shown on demo later in the day. The Agri-vator can aerate up to 20 hectares a day. They have a working depth of 150mm an are ideal for hard soils. Also at the stand where a handy alternative to the travelling sprinklers. Marketed as Sumirain. They would be ideal for any sports ground or golf course during a grow in period. They are cheaper than a travelling sprinkler, and I would imagine more productive. SumiRain is wound up on a steel reel which is mounted on a metal wheel barrow style winder, making it very easy to transport. SumiRain 50 has a high output - 18mm an hour

Bio Green was also at the expo. Based on peat, nature's age-old water saver and nutrient storehouse, Biogreen's organic products translate directly into higher yields, increased plant health, and reduced need for water and fertiliser. 'The Power of Peat" is providing councils, broad acre farmers, turf growers and home gardeners with results that are efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly.

Nufarm were one of the big chemical companies to display on the day. With popular products like their Mallet insecticide for Black beetle, Argentinian Scarab, Pruinose Scarab and Billbug larvae it's a cost effective way of controlling insect damage before it happens. I also chated with Peter Kirby about their online weather stations. They can offer a 14 day forecast to within 1km of your property. Pitchcare will be bringing further information on this later in the month.

All in all it was a great show, and one we hope to play a bigger part in in the future. Well done to Turf Producers Australia on a great two day conference.

Keep up to date with developments with Turf Producers Australia on their own website www.turfaustralia.com.au

Read more articles in Shows and seminars, by Rob Jenkins or from March 2009.