In
what turned out to be the hottest day of the year, the 2019 ICL Independent School Seminar, held at the illustrious Cheltenham College, saw a
record-breaking number of attendees soak up a memorable day of knowledge,
networking and first-class cricket.
Over
70 turf professionals made their way to the historic spa town of Cheltenham to
network and enhance their education on a variety of different turf management
topics in a seminar tailor-made for those working within the Independent
Schools sector.
The
seminar was held in the College’s Thirlestaine House, which over the years has
housed some of Cheltenham’s most creative and forward-thinking students. It was
therefore an appropriate setting to discuss the future of turf care and explore
new and innovative methods.
Christian
Brain, Head of Grounds at Cheltenham College, was the first to take to the
stage and proceeded to offer a wonderful glimpse into the College’s rich
history in which he reflected on the years, the great changes that have taken
place, and the significant marks that history has carved in its life.
It
was then down to business as Henry Bechelet, ICL Technical Sales Manager UK
& Ireland, delivered his thoughts on The Future of Fertilizer. After nearly
two years of negotiations the European Parliament have agreed on a new
regulation for fertilizers. Set to commence in 2022, many questions have been
raised as to how the new regulations might affect the industry and Henry was on
hand to clarify the situation.
“The whole point about the regulations is to protect the
end user,” he said. “The other key aim of the legislation is to bring into play
added transparency and more sustainable and circular economy ingredients. At
ICL we view the new regulations as being progressive because we can always
demonstrate the performance of our products, but they are going to have a big impact on how some
companies sell their products.
"No
longer will companies be able to falsely market their products – which is a
step in the right direction because hopefully it will take out of the
marketplace those companies that don’t have the evidence to support their
product claims.”
After
addressing the new forthcoming fertilizer regulations, Henry discussed the use
of the new Pearl granules that ICL is incorporating into the renovator grades
in the SierrablenPlus range.
“These
are slow release forms of nitrogen but mainly phosphorus which have been proven
in trial work to really encourage root development. We are very excited about
these new materials because we feel that they will massively enhance
renovations and encourage better rooted plants,” he said.
Attendees
then got the opportunity to receive a tour of the grounds and Christian
explained how he and his team prepare for the Cheltenham Cricket Festival. At
over 140 years of age, Cheltenham is the world's oldest cricket festival and
has, over the years, witnessed some legends of the game such as Wally Hammond,
Allan Border and WG Grace. Taking place every July, over a two-week period, the
festival now features a selection of T20 Blast games – something which the
delegates would later enjoy.
As
everyone gathered back in Thirlestaine House and re-took their seats, student
Tamsin Williams captivated the audience with an insight into ICL’s unique
four-year research project which is exploring the effects of seaweed products
on turfgrass plant parasitic nematodes.
The
project, which is taking place at Royal Holloway, University of London, was
founded due to the apparent rise of nematodes. As it stands, there are few
options available for the turf manager who has a nematode problem but ICL is
currently researching whether seaweed could offer a solution. Tamsin is of the
opinion that when the right seaweed is applied to a grass plant it could change
the resistance of the plant to disease and insect attack and she revealed her
current findings.
At
the 2018 ICL Independent School Seminar held at Edgbaston Stadium, Andy
Richards, Grounds Manager at Shrewsbury School revealed how he uses data
recorded from his weather station and moisture metres to improve playing
conditions and to identify what equipment he needs in order to continue to make
improvements. Inspired by Andy’s seminar, Glenn Kirby, Syngenta's Technical
Manager for UK Turf & Landscape unveiled a year’s worth of recorded data
which undoubtedly piqued the delegates’ curiosity.
The
day was rounded off in style as the delegates joined a sell-out 5,000 strong
attendance to watch Gloucestershire inflict a first defeat on Middlesex in this
season's Vitality Blast.
Organiser
of the event, ICL’s Emma Kilby, first launched the Independent School Seminar
back in 2011 and is pleased to see just how far it has come over the years.
“This is a huge sector and consists of a very particular group of people that
look after schools which have a multitude of different surfaces - all of which
require very different approaches.
"When
I first joined ICL eight years ago I just felt that they were not receiving the
kind of support they needed. It was at that point I started discussing the idea
of an event with various
school
groundsmen and we launched the first seminar in 2011 at Radley College.
“The
event has run every year since at different venues and the bar is raised each
time. These guys are real experts in lots of different disciplines and their
requirements are quite individual so to actually focus on them and to get them
along to an event where all the seminars are aimed at topics they are
interested in is one thing but also the opportunity to get them all together so
they can talk with one another and network is invaluable.”
