Turf Care – As If The Environment Mattered

There are a number of different methods of turf maintenance. Do nothing is a popular option or, of course, you can just apply chemical fertilisers. A further alternative is to adopt cultural methods. We believe that the way forward is Balanced Management.

Balanced Management is a question of balance. That is, the integration of cultural maintenance, organics and synthetics. This is no different from what doctors will tell you when talking about human health. We don’t just eat steak – we are told to eat vegetables and to take exercise as well. In my view the same applies to plants and while plants need macronutrients in the form of NPK they also need minor nutrients and the other benefits that organics provide together with proper cultural management.

There is a tendency, I believe, to over complicate the whole issue of turf management. At the same time the trade must take some responsibility. Machinery manufacturers will tell you how many holes per square metre their machines make, organic suppliers will suggest that they have all the answers and the NPK supplier will describe in great detail the latest high tech manufacturing methods – but nobody pulls everything together and stands back to look at the whole picture.

The question of balance must also take into account the fact that we are managing turf and not growing hay grass. It is a strange experience to visit golf courses where fairways are being regularly fertilised and then to be told that one man spends the whole week cutting them! Why not just apply less fertiliser?

Equally, there should be a partnership between chemicals and organics. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Clearly, on an intense use sports pitch with 22 people playing regularly one has to get growth and NPK fertiliser has an important role to play. On a Links fairway Farmura Liquid Organic Fertiliser on its own will do an excellent job of encouraging fine grasses without pushing growth and bringing in poa annua. Each site should be assessed individually.

What we are looking to do then is to combine and integrate cultural methods, synthetics and organics. I would be the first to accept that this is not the only way to grow grass but I do believe that with the growing environmental pressure that this is the way forward. It works, it is cost effective and it is environmentally responsible.

Organics are both established and have a proven usage. I get the feeling sometimes that people believe that organics were invented somewhere in the late 1970’s. In fact, of course, they have been used over the centuries and long before synthetics were developed, organics were the only source of nutrient. The principles have been established over very many years and if one cares to look there are numerous books and research projects. The work of researchers such as Sir Albert Howard, Brown & Albrecht, Voisin and many others is all there if one cares to look.

My own theory for the reason that organics have been overlooked for 50 years is that at the end of the Second World War there was huge nitrate production which suddenly had no outlet. The German, Dr. Liebig, who in 1848 had burnt both soil and plant matter had come to the astonishing conclusion that NPK was all the plant required was rediscovered. Of course, when nitrates are applied to healthy soils the results are spectacular.

So was born the modern approach which I believe in historical terms will be seen as a short deviation from proper plant nutrition.

Fifty years on with growing concerns about the environment and human health the wheel has turned and a more balanced and natural approach is once again being actively sought out. This is not to say, however, that modern NPK fertilisers and even pesticides do not have a place.

Organics have historically been used on turf but one has to say they have been difficult and messy to use. With golf being played 12 months of the year one can no longer leave a green covered in manure over the winter. What companies such as ourselves have done is to bring old ideas and techniques up to date and make them appropriate for modern management practice. Our process in particular goes back to 1964 and has been proved over many years.

The use of organics is a new approach in that results are not immediately visible. While organic products do take longer they do provide a more lasting improvement and it is important to get away from the simplistic idea that a product, to be effective, must work within a few days.

Farmura Liquid Organics work through the leaf, the root and the soil. The leaf and the root are straight forward enough but the soil is something that is seldom discussed. If one reads the trade magazines it is full of technical reports on machines, production techniques, etc., etc. but with very few exceptions there is nothing on the soil which is where everything starts. There is a lot more to soil than something that sticks to your boots on a wet day and gets in your hair on a dry day!

It is in fact a complex, dynamic, living entity of bacteria, fungi, moulds, yeasts, protozoa, algae, worms, insects and minute organisms. Each soil particle is covered with oxides, water and organic matter. Thirty grams of soils can have a surface area amounting to 2.5 hectares. The bacteria in a handful of soil can exceed the population of the world!

Fertilisers, pesticides, water, compaction, mowing and everything else that is done to turf has a dramatic effect on this living world and that is why a proper balance is absolutely essential for long term successful turf.

It is often said that organics are all muck and mystery. Well they may be muck but there is very little mystery. The claims that we make are backed up by U.K. trials, a major trials programme in the United States and most important of all, satisfied customers who have been using our products since 1975. Research facilities used include the United States Department of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin, Mississippi State University, Virginia Tech, Louisiana State. It is not possible to make product claims in the U.S.A. unless they are researched.

One of our key claims is increases in soil microbial populations. A healthy population is essential to convert nutrient and make it available to the plant. One of the main reasons for the increase in fertiliser use is the inability of the plant to make use of nutrient supplied around it. Recent horticultural research shows losses of up to 75%.

Trials have also demonstrated longer roots and improved root and turf density. At this point, however, we have to return to Balanced Management – roots will not grow in compacted soils and the point often overlooked is that roots grown in air spaces and not the soil itself.

If soil is compacted it does not matter what product is used it is not going to work and we see a very close link between the mechanical act of aeration and the use of a biological product.

We also claim a reduction in thatch. This is very much a snake oil topic and we are not claiming that the use of Farmura alone will get rid of thatch. Thatch is caused by compaction, over watering, over fertilising and the excessive use of pesticides all leading to a reduced microbial population and in some cases a zero microbial population. This leads to a build up of organic matter that we call thatch which the bacteria are not breaking down. To get rid of thatch one needs a management programme that allows bacteria to build up and in time they will break the thatch down.

Finally, we found that when laying turf Farmura was able to help roots knit into the soil much faster than without, in fact an increase of 50%.

I would suggest that NPK, while essential, has been concentrated on to the exclusion of all else but no one is willing to discuss the effect on nutrients being locked up, the reduction of trace element availability and adverse affect on soil bacteria and increased disease susceptibility. None of this matters however if a balanced approach is followed as the use of organics will increase nutrient availability and up take, promote a balance, increase bacterial activity, provide trace elements and make a contribution towards soil and plant health.

Additional benefits of Farmura which are reported is the growth of fine grasses which is how we came into golf on the U.K, Open Championship courses. An ability to retain moisture and thus regenerate turf after drought and stress conditions. Increased disease resistance. A product that is environmentally safe and non-toxic – in short a natural bio stimulant.

The Farmura Organics story is a success story with customers that represent a who’s who of turf. They include St. Andrews, Turnberry Hotel, Wembley, Royal Ascot, Manchester United, Super Bowl Stadium U.S.A., Olympic Stadiums including Rome, Helsinki, Tokyo and Beijing, Tumba Golf Course Moscow. Farmura has also proved very successful in Portugal and has been supplied to over twenty countries.

Uses include Golf Courses, Stadiums, Sports Grounds, Bowls, Tennis, Landscape, Seeding, Land Reclamation and Ecologically Sensitive Areas.

To sum up then, Farmura is part of good management practice, which includes aeration, good water and fertiliser management.

Jonathan Harmer
Managing Director
Farmura Ltd

Farmura was established in the late 1960’s to develop the Farmura system of converting cow manure into organic fertiliser and is now a market leader in its class through continuing organic fertiliser innovation

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