It takes up to eight years of reseach to bring a product to market
and prevent it from becoming lumpy and blocking nozzles and pipes. There are also adjuvants that help the active ingredient reach the target pest, disease or weed by controlling droplet size, thereby helping it to adhere to the surface of the target or leaf. Bayer use their extensive expertise to
overcome this problem, and enable the active ingredient to stick to, and penetrate, the cuticle, making the product more efficient and rainfast within one hour, such as with the turf fungicide Dedicate®
.
There are several testing areas where new formulations are tested and monitored. Most are in large greenhouses where the climatic conditions can be altered to test the formulations under different conditions. Others include a series of outdoor turf plots that are managed as fine amenity turf, which are regularly mown to facilitate testing of new selective turf
products. Over the years the company have
produced a multitude of products to help manage specific turf grass problems globally. However, in the amenity sector of our industry in the UK, recent European and UK Government legislations has seen a reduction in the products now available.
Bayer has committed huge investment to ensure that there are plenty of new products being developed for the UK market that will not only be fit for purpose but meet new legislation. They intend to launch two such products at BTME in January.
Over the coming issues, I will be writing more in depth articles about the research and development programmes, as well as the registration processes and costs.
It soon became apparent, when walking around the R&D centre at the Monheim site, the true scale of
Laurence Gale, Paul Clifton, James Hadlow and Dave Saltman
investment, time and resources Bayer have committed to producing these products. Now that I’ve seen, first hand, the work and processes involved in development, it is easy to justify the price to the end user. After a long day we made our way back to the hotel for refreshments and further talks about our industry. The following day we were taken to the BayKomm (Bayer Museum) to see, in detail, the history of the company, and how their products, including phamaceuticals, have helped keep people healthy, wealthy and wise.
Both Dave and I would like to take the opportunity to thank Paul and James for making this trip possible. The information and welcome we received from Bayer’s employees was first class. The tremendous commitment this company has towards our industry is to be admired.
fresh ideas and opportunities brought to the table, along with the bonus of having more free time to pursue some of my hobbies and pastimes while I am still fit and able.
What, do you consider, have been contributing factors to the success of your business?
Hard work, networking and acquiring committed dedicated staff but, above all, listening to the needs of the customer.
How did it all begin?
My affinity with the industry started when I left school, working at my father’s nursery and landscaping business. I also went to college and gained qualifications in horticulture.
After some time, I decided to leave the family business and strike out on my own. I had already started an export business, and one of the products I featured was Atterton and Ellis mower sharpening machinery - and some mowers too - Horwool is a name some may fondly recall. I also started a greenhouse manufacturing business. The export company grew and we opened a major distribution centre in Mannheim - Germany.
How did you develop the mower sharpening side of the business?
I sold the greenhouse and garden product wholesale business in Germany so that I could concentrate on the growing business of mower sharpening machinery. By this time, I had forged particularly strong links with Atterton and Ellis from Haverhill, Suffolk.
I was encouraged by their directors, Ken Boardman and David Smith, and became involved in their designs and corporate
development. Our export sales grew and I became their Export Director. Then, little by little, I acquired a controlling interest in Attertons and, eventually, became the sole and outright owner of the company under the banner of Bernhard and Company Ltd.
What was the catalyst for success of this new business venture?
Simply, my contacts in America. I worked with Dick Nelson and Phil Taylor from Jacobsen, in 1973, to develop a non-contact (spin) sharpening programme and, by the mid 1980s, we had become the main name in spin grinding in the USA. This culminated with Bernhard’s being one of the first UK companies to exhibit at the prestigious GCSAA Show.
When, and how, did your famous blazers first appear?
They came about when Ulrich Kayser and I used to make greenhouses and sell to the European garden industry. We always traded on what was special in the British garden. One day Ulrich, who is quite eccentric, arrived in a British boating blazer and suggested we should all wear something similar to make us stand out in the crowd as being really British. I agreed and contacted my friends at Rugby School. They had their own boating colours which were no longer used. They agreed to allow me to buy the cloth and have jackets made.
They have definitely been a good talking point over the years and, to be fair, have helped portray the companies image of being smart and sharp.
What are your concerns for the industry? Industry fragmentation. There’s not enough
coming together of like-minded businesses and institutions. We need to bring some common goals to the table and raise the profile of greenkeepers and groundsmen to a new level.
Our practitioners should be seen in a better light, and represent the industry more professionally, and be appropriately qualified and educated to represent their facility in the best possible manner, and not to be still seen as a grass cutter with flat cap.
In a perfect world, member associations would combine their resources and work together to take our industry forward. This would also create the opportunity to create a ‘one single show format’ on a two year cycle, of which one year is trade orientated, whilst the other is based on educational seminar and conference style workshops.
We need to encourage new blood into our industry, It is surprising how many youngsters are not aware of the opportunities our industry brings in terms of work satisfaction, diversity and high profile facilities.
Many schools and colleges do not promote our industry in the best light. We also need to change that and the perceptions of many employees who, again, still have a notion we only cut grass. Education is the key to changing these perceptions. It is the duty of all who work in our industry to do just that.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in our wonderful industry?
Be respectful, honest, hardworking and loyal to your employer, ask questions and listen to advice when given. Be willing to take on responsibilities and learn from your mistakes.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132