Greenkeepers, groundsmen and turf agronomists now have an exciting opportunity to help each other achieve better results in managing turf and delivering higher quality playing surfaces. The new GreenCast website’s on-line forum creates an easy-to-use platform to highlight current issues, and find out how other turf managers have dealt with the problems.
Syngenta Technical Manager, Dr Simon Watson, highlighted that Syngenta has introduced a number of innovative new products over recent months, including the selective herbicide, Rescue, last autumn and new turf nozzles at BTME in January. “Turf managers will inevitably raise questions about the use of new products, and the Forum provides the ideal format to get practical answers from the experiences of others.
“In many instances other turf managers will have raised a similar question, and identified their own solutions. The Forum will help to share the expertise across the industry,” added Dr Watson. “Syngenta turf technical advisors and independent agronomists will also be looking at the Forum entries and be able to post helpful answers and suggestions to topical questions, which can be viewed and used by all.”
Although initial subjects raised on the Forum platform have been primarily related to Syngenta product use, there is the opportunity to develop and add Forums to include any aspect of turf management. Early Forum topics relate to experiences around the use of Rescue, including application timing and over seeding experiences, along with application techniques using new Syngenta Turf Nozzles and seeking turf managers experiences on the use of wetting agents with Heritage Maxx treatments for Take-All and Fairy Ring.
Dr Watson stressed the new Forums do not replace the Syngenta Technical Enquiries service, answering specific individual questions or receiving instant responses on the telephone. “We are seeking to increase the level of support we provide and to collectively help turf managers communicate the best practice from their own experiences.”
Turf managers registered for the free Syngenta GreenCast website can post responses to existing Forum topics, upload pictures where they are seeking assistance or start new threads and topics within the Forums. The easy to use format will be familiar to anyone using Forums on news or social networking websites, with a Quick Guide available with useful tips and ideas.
To find out more log on to www.greencast.co.uk and visit the Forum page.