THE RICHT
They had stopped en route to relieve themselves and were surprised at how sandy and free draining the local soil was!
Report by DAVE SALTMAN
Just over 100 years ago Alex Richter’s Great Grandfather started to grow turf for landscape use in his homeland of Austria. Today, Alex manages the company, producing around 300 hectares of turf between two farms in Austria and Slovakia.
The company employs thirty four permanent members of staff, taking on an additional number for seasonal duties.
The majority of the turf is now grown in Slovakia on a farm totalling over 700 hectares. The farm also grows wheat, maize and sun flower, although about 100 hectares is rented to another farmer. On these naturally good soils 240 hectares of turf is grown and matured ready for harvest. The land was bought in Slovakia in 2000 after Alex and his father had come across the soil by accident. They had been driving to an agricultural fair in the Czech Republic in 1990 and had stopped en route to relieve themselves by the side of the road. Looking at the local soil, they were surprised at how sandy and free draining it was! They initially thought it was imported for some nearby construction but walked further into the field and saw that it was indigenous to the area.
It became a very complicated affair to
purchase the land, due to the local laws and politics. Land in Slovakia had been shared within families over many generations and it took the Richter’s, with three full time staff and nearly four years of research, to find the 800 landowners. Eventually they agreed contracts to purchase the parcels of land with nearly all of them. As many owners lived in other countries it was a long journey and is still ongoing with a handful of people. The smallest plot purchased was only sixteen square metres!
Despite the length and cost of this operation the Richter’s knew that the land was worthwhile as it had the best naturally formed rootzones they had come across from anywhere in Europe. These are as near to a perfect
rootzone as you could find. They were deposited in the valley during the glacial age. Typically the soil is 98% sand solids, and the rest is organic matter.
The natural stability comes from the unique mix of particles sizes and shape. The silica sands were created from the Bohemian granite platform. Over hundreds of thousands of years the material was washed down by glacial melt water. The bigger rounded particles rolled down into the valley
and were mixed with finer angular sands that were blown down. When Alex took over the running of the farm from his father his focus was to produce top quality sports turf. For football (stadium turf) the predominant grass mix is 90% Poa pratensis, 10 % Rye, although smaller quantities of other mixes (including 100% Rye mix) are also produced. The farm has also introduced all new bent varieties, Penn A4, Penn cross, Penn Links, providence, L-93 and alpha for the golf market. They also grow a fescue/bent mix of 80/20, as well as about four hectares of pure fescue, which is now available for harvest. All of the turf is grown on this natural rootzone and is compliant with the STRI specifications for greens construction. Alex follows strong principles in that all the sports turf is grown in the field for a minimum of two years prior to harvest, the two year period includes two winters which is important to help the plant be more robust. For certain varieties this also helps to encourage a good rhizomatal root structure and, for the others, a chance to grow strongly and have the best possible root system to survive the harvest and relaying. The Slovak climate is continental, hot
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