Month: October 2021

Toowoomba Regional Council

Lindsay Petersen has worked at the Toowoomba Regional Council for 36 years. Lindsay started as a machinery operator, before progressing to foreman for all parks and in 1994 Lindsay was promoted to Sports Field & Irrigation Supervisor. Lindsay’s current role is the Coordinator of Sports Infrastructure Services.

Toowoomba is a highly credited sports region hosting state and regional athletes’ events. Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) area covers some 13,000sqm with a population of over 120,000 people. The region including areas of Millmerran, Clifton, Pittsworth, Yarraman, Crow Nest, Jondaryan and Toowoomba.

A community study into sports and recreation instigated the development of a multi-use sports facility for the Highfields and surrounding areas. Lindsay oversaw the planning of the new grounds which would include facilities for a variety of sports and activities.

Highfields Sport & Recreation Park

Construction commenced with great eagerness in 2015, after an in-depth and assiduous planning period that began back in 2012-13. The project was completed over a 4-year period concluding in 2019. With the total value of the project estimated to be in the vicinity of $30 million dollars. The expansive site covers over 40 hectares and is comprised of 3 rugby union fields, 6 soccer fields, 7 grass netball courts, 8 all weather netball courts, 2 turf wickets and 4 tennis/netball areas. All sporting fields are under lights with the main oval meeting lit to accommodate night cricket matches.

The site also includes playgrounds, walking tracks and a natural environment development area. The facility also houses a modern multi-purpose clubhouse.

The fields are highly used with activities 7 days a week, with training afternoon and night, fixtures midweek as well as weekends, along with general community occupied activities. Some of the sporting events that are catered for include QLD Schools state soccer championships, QLD Schools Regional and State Cross Country finals, Schools Rugby Union Regional Championships and Schools Netball Regional Championships.

Turf Selection

There are 4 different turfgrass varieties that have been installed across the fields. These include 2 TifSport fields, 1 OzTuff couch field, 2 TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda fields and 4 kikuyu fields.

Lindsay made the decision to include TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda into this project in 2017 after attending the AGCSA trade show on the Sunshine Coast and visited the Lawn Solutions Australia trade stand. Lindsay saw TifTuf first-hand and discussed the potential use on high use sports fields. After reveiwing valuable trial data and varietal information it was decided that TifTuf would be a perfect option for the 2 main fields directly adjacent to the clubhouse.

These fields were stolonised in November 2017 by Twin View Turf and were ready for play in February 2019. Training commenced in February on the fields, with the official opening on the 9^th of March.

Over the next 3-year period the TifTuf has performed beyond Lindsay’s expectations and the two fields are the preferred option for the sporting clubs. General use of these fields being double that of the other fields, due to being located directly out from the clubhouse. Field usage experienced for June this year being over 153 hours with both daytime and weekend sports, including night games and training.

Observations after 3 years of high wear usage:

• Harder wearing with no bare patches developing
• Goal mouths and centre areas have experienced minimal damage
• No turf replacements due to wear on the TifTuf fields required
• Less water use – Only 2 cycles of irrigation during summer and no irrigation required during winter
• Vigorous recovery rate experienced in spring

TifTuf Maintenance Practices:

• Renovation once a year completed in September/October
• Aeration routine to alleviate compaction using Weidman and Agri-Vator machines
• Scarification only when required
• Top dress as part of renovation
• Limited fertiliser schedule

Fertiliser applications are applied in December and March, no other nutrition is applied outside of renovation. Lindsay runs the TifTuf fields lean and doesn’t need to promote active vigour for leaf growth, TifTuf just doesn’t need the same amount of fertiliser as the other turfgrass varieties.

PGR (Plant growth Regulator) is used during the growing season and is one of the best tools for turf management. It allows the grass to form a really tight knitted surface, which Lindsay believes is part of the reason why TifTuf is such an awesome grass on the two main sports fields at Highfields.

Overall TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda has played an important role in offering two first class sporting fields at the Highfields Sporting Park, with teams and sporting clubs wanting to always play on the TifTuf fields. Lindsay and his team couldn’t be happier with the result.

“From a council perspective we ensure best practices and TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda fits that bill – low fertiliser inputs, less water requirements and a smooth first-class playing surface for the community,” said Lindsay.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have finally come and gone, completed in 2021 for reasons well known but also to confuse future trivia buffs. We enjoyed seeing the Aussie success in the pool, out in the ocean and on the hard surfaces, but what we really enjoyed as turf enthusiasts, was the sports played on natural turf.

Hundreds of hours of wear experienced over a short two-week period really put the turf to the test. The sports ground curators responsible for getting these fields ready for competition and maintaining their quality throughout the games, really are magicians.

Tokyo 2020 involved 33 sports, with 339 medal events, held across 42 venues.

Here’s some insight into some of these turf playing surfaces that featured during the games…

The National Stadium

The National Stadium in Tokyo was the main stadium for the games, with construction completed in November 2019. The National Stadium hosted the athletics, rugby and some soccer games, along with the opening and closing ceremonies.

The turf used for the playing surface at the stadium is TifGrand Bermudagrass (Couch), developed by Tifton University in South Georgia USA. The same turf development program grasses such as TifTuf and TifWay were released from. Japan National Stadium was built on the site of the formerly demolished old National Stadium in preparation for the games. The grass used at the old stadium was another Tifton bred grass called TifSport.

TifGrand can handle the humid conditions of Tokyo and the high traffic experienced at the games. It has increased shade tolerance which was also important with the stadium’s high walls and roofing. TifGrand also has a great dark green colour which is ideal for televised sport. The stadiums roof collects rainwater that is stored in underground cisterns, which is used to irrigate the arena turf as well as the numerous plants on the top storey promenade.

Sapporo Dome

The Sapporo Dome is an incredibly multi-functional venue for sport. The dome throughout most of the year hosts baseball and soccer, through a retractable playing surface. Baseball is played on an artificial turf field, while football is played on a real grass/turf surface that can slide in on top when required. Sapporo Dome hosted soccer events during the games.

The ‘hovering’ natural turf surface is 120m in length, 85m wide and 1.38m deep. Because the Sapporo Dome has a permanent roof, the playing field needs to be out in the open to receive sunlight. The surface is then moved into the dome shortly before being required for matches.

A surface of such size is incredibly heavy (8,300 tonnes) and has taken some clever ingenuity for it to be moved in and out. Air is blown underneath the surface lifting it up and effectively reducing its weight by 90%. 24 sensor-guided wheels then roll underneath allowing the surface to be put in place over a four-to-five-hour process.

Yokohama Baseball Stadium

Home of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars baseball team, Yokohama Stadium is one of the only baseball stadiums in Japan to have a natural turf outfield. This wasn’t always the case though, with the previously artificial surface being replaced with real turf in 2016. This change was part of several improvements designed to convince hometown fans that the stadium would be more enjoyable. With the major league-style grass being mowed to create a more attractive MLB-style checkerboard pattern.

Miyagi Stadium

Miyagi Stadium is in Rifu and has hosted many international sporting events over the years including the 2002 FIFA World Cup matches. The stadium was used for track and field competitions and soccer matches at the Olympics.

The turf is grown especially for the stadium by East Japan Reconstruction Lawn Growing Enterprises run by Seiichi Otsubo. The grass used is a composite of three different varietals of Kentucky Blue Grass due to the stadium being nearly 5 hours north of Tokyo experiencing a milder climate. Two of the varietals are known as ‘Granite KBG’ and ‘Sudden Impact.’ This combination provides a durable surface and dense coverage, which Otsubo believes to be fitting of his recovery or reconstruction turf, given it is being used at an Olympics being dubbed the ‘Recovery Olympics.’

Kasumigaseki Country Club (East Course)

The home of golf at this year’s Olympics, Kasumigaseki Country Club first opened in 1929.

The club features both an East and West Course, with the East Course being used for both the men’s and women’s Olympic events. The East course underwent a full renovation in 2016 in preparation for the games. The course previously featured 2 greens per hole, one with warm season grass and the other cool season to manage the extreme seasonal conditions experienced. For the games, each hole was transitioned to a traditional layout with just one green per hole, enabling them to extend the course length by 500 yards.

The Diversification of Yarramalong Turf

Farmers of any kind will understand the joy that their beautiful farms can bring. At Yarramalong Turf in Wyong NSW, they have opened their doors to the public, diversified their business and are providing more than just turf for sale at their very own slice of paradise.

Alan and Renai Doggett had big plans for the Wyong, NSW turf farm when they took the helm in September 2018 and less than a year later, they were breaking new ground.

The Turf

After purchasing the farm, the Doggett’s invested what they could in new machinery and infrastructure. Yarramalong Turf joined Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) and were able to utilise their newly formed relationship for information and LSA members Greener Lawn were able to help with supply while they were low on stock. Being able to grow relationships with other members has been a blessing, “we love the fact that people in the industry are so willing to help each other” Alan said.

Glen and Paige, a family that the Doggett’s know and love also moved in at the turf farm, where Glen would soon begin helping make the farm what it is today.

 In 2019, it was time to start renovating paddocks after turf had been harvested. During this time, Alan and his team learnt a lot about the importance of good soil testing and understanding their inputs.

In 2020, the farm undertook their second major paddock renovation, turning four older paddocks into one laser graded paddock, on a scale unheard of for their little farm to date. Supply was still coming from partner farms during this time, with a lot of advice flowing freely and learning the depths of the trade. Alan realised they would never have enough turf supply with the current farm size, so he planted the seed within his network for ways to expand supply.

In December of 2020, Yarramalong Turf took delivery of their first auto harvester, upgrading the older Kesmacs for a JD Brouwer, which was of great excitement for Alan and his team, “600mm rolls were finally coming from our farm!”

The seed Alan had planted earlier in the year had started to develop and an opportunity to purchase some neighbouring land was also showing some positive signs.

The Coffee

“To begin with Renai started our Turf Hut Espresso,” Alan said. “That has been a great way of starting to open the farm to other opportunities and a great way to get to know more locals and tourists alike.”

Having a farm that is not only productive as a turf farm, but one that could also be a place where people could come and hang out seemed like a good idea to Allan and his family. The open space, the country feels and yet literally minutes from the M1 at Tuggerah (75kms south of Newcastle) was just waiting for new avenues to be explored. The farms rear boundary is Wyong creek and follows its twists and turns, so there are many areas that may not be great for growing turf but are perfect quirky little spots for growing other things and community activities.

The Sunflowers

Coffee may have started conversations, but what’s really got tongues wagging is Yarramalong’s sunflower harvests.

“Initially there was an idea by a staff member for a green manure crop before replanting in paddocks that were in fallow,” Alan said. “It was suggested millet, ground-breaking radishes and for a bit of fun a strip of sunflowers.”

Alan had drawn a positive response with sunflowers in the past.

“When I was younger there was a house on the main road at Lisarow,” he said. “They have a little roadside store set up that I used to buy my girlfriend – now wife of 22 years – sunflowers on my way home from work. So, I thought as a surprise for Renai and my kids, definitely throw the sunflowers in.”

“Unbeknown to us people were stopping on the side of the road, jumping in the field and taking selfies,” he said. “This became known to us as they started appearing all over Facebook and Instagram, along with comments thanking us for putting them in.

Social media surprises suggested sunflowers were a solid selection. That is when we decided that if we were going to do it, we should do it properly and create an environment that was not only fun but safe for people to enjoy.”

Interest in the January harvest was “overwhelming.” Social media may have played a part again by the second harvest day on the Mother’s Day weekend.

“We had a car counter and averaged out over 1000 cars an hour for the eight hours, so I guess that means there was a lot of people who got to enjoy the day,” Allan said. “Some stayed just long enough to grab a big bunch, others just got some pics and others hung out on a picnic rug and soaked the atmosphere for hours.”

Alan said his whole family got involved with the entire operation.

“The crops have all to this stage been planted by hand mostly by Renai, the kids and I, also Glen and his family that reside at the farm and are also a big part of the harvest day,” he said. “We deep rip the paddock, run the tynes, rotary hoe, plant, and then roll the seeds in. It is a fun thing to get out in the paddock, enjoy family time and the results speak for themselves.”

“On our most recent harvest we had the sunflowers, a turf display showcasing our newest grass varieties, the turf hut espresso, barbecue, live music, local beekeeper selling their honey, local fresh produce grown at Kulnura, Trader Vic’s stand (local surf shop), jumping castles and even pony rides.”

The enterprising farmer said Yarramalong had received positive feedback from local businesses who had benefited from the harvest days through increased trade, and the events brought people from not only Sydney and Newcastle but also further afield.

Alan said charities had also benefited from the events and money is being reinvested.

“We have made some direct donations to charities on behalf of the harvest, as well as donating flowers and time to multiple, smaller, more personal events,” he said. “It has been an absolute pleasure to be able to do this. We are now reinvesting into attaining all the appropriate permits for an event this size and are in the process of working with the council to make “YTs (Yarramalong Turf’s) Central coast Sunflower Harvest” a must-do for locals and tourists well into the future. We also have other farm events in the making so it’s definitely an exciting time for the farm.”

The Produce

The Doggett family hasn’t stopped there, earlier this year preparations were put in place to bring what was known as Wyong Creek Produce in under their umbrella. Plans were set in motion and the final major renovation at the existing farm was put on hold to allow resources to be available for works on the new venture.

The produce shed is now named ‘Yarramalong Farm Supplies’ and has been a successful addition to an already diverse product offering.

In May the Doggett’s were honoured to be given the go ahead to be a Ringers Western country clothing supplier. A lawn store was also added to supply Lawn Solutions Australia lawn care products and Husqvarna Automowers, with an indoor display and a working 80m2 plot of their three premium grasses. They have even enjoyed being able to remodel the produce shed to include an express drive thru, which has been beneficial throughout COVID restrictions.

Alan has been pleased with how well things have come together. “I guess for us although it seems like there is a lot happening, the way the businesses integrate with each other sometimes even surprises myself.”

“Our staff from each side of the business really want each to succeed and they work in together so well. Stock food deliveries are being taken by the turf team and unloaded with Moffets; the produce team are picking up fertiliser along with the feed runs, the girls in the produce shed are learning to load trucks. It’s a real team effort across all areas.”

“I feel the diversification we have undertaken, although at times has some hurdles helps create its own form of peace of mind. It certainly also keeps things exciting!”

‘Tif’ grasses, have become synonymous with sporting surfaces across the world. Grasses like Tifway, Tifdwarf, Tifton 419, TifEagle and more recently the highly awarded TifTuf. These grasses were all bred at the University of Georgia, Tifton in the USA, driving the moniker ‘Tif’.

The University of Georgia has one of, if not the most highly successful turf breeding programs in the world. Turf research at the facility began in 1946 with the introduction of an annual grant provided by the United States Golf Association (USGA). The goal of the grant was to develop a better Bermuda (couch) grass to replace the sand greens and seeded Bermuda grass greens.

In 1947 trials began using plugs taken from the best greens from several golf courses in the Southern area. These plugs were planted along with by-products of the existing pasture grass breeding program that already existed. In addition, a seeded plot of common Bermuda grass was included.

After 3 years of testing with golf green management, the common Bermuda grass that was planted from seed was the poorest performer in the test. The best grass was a hybrid created from a dense dwarf type and a disease resistant selection originating in the pasture breeding program. This grass was released in 1952 and was known as Tiflawn. Unfortunately, it was later found to be too coarse for golf greens.

Development didn’t stop there though, with a wave of new superior grasses developed over the following years – such as Tiffine with a finer softer leaf, a better putting-green grass named Tifgreen, leading into the introduction of Tifway in 1960. Tifway had superior green colour, frost tolerance, a denser profile and was more resistant to pests and diseases.

Tifdwarf, a sterile triploid, was released in 1965. This grass was first discovered by USGA Green Section agronomist James B. Moncrief, widely known as Monty. Tifdwarf was a natural mutant of Tifgreen. Tifdwarf has many of the same characteristics of Tifgreen, but with shorter and smaller leaves.

Sterile triploids like Tifdwarf, cannot be developed through the same means as traditional turf breeding methods. These grasses can however be modified through the exposure of dormant sprigs to gamma rays. This method was undertaken in 1970 on Tifway, Tifgreen and Tifdwarf, resulting in 158 new mutant strains. These strains underwent evaluation until 1981, before the release of Tifway II, an improved version of Tifway. Tifgreen too had an improved mutant released known as Tifgreen II.

After Tifgreen II, the focus of the breeding program pivoted more towards the development of hardier Bermuda grasses for winter conditions. This resulted in the inclusion of a hexaploid Bermuda grass collection being included from a lawn in China. This grass had a dark bluish-green colour and was quite winter hardy. It had a coarser leaf, with lower wear tolerance than Tifway. This grass was later released in 1988 as Tifton 10, by Dr. Wayne Hanna.

While there had been significant successes in developing successful Bermuda grass types for release, there were still demands and improvements required to improve putting green quality when compared to bent grass. They simply could not tolerate the conditions and low mowing height required to perform at the same standard of quality.

This culminated in a new goal for the breeding program, developing dwarf cultivars of a higher standard for short mowing. More mutations were introduced to the program along with continued gamma radiation. In 1995, a new grass known as TifSport was released. This grass was followed shortly after in 1997, by TifEagle. These two grasses were the first patented hybrids from Tifton.

Improved characteristics in other areas were identified, initially shade tolerance was priority. Six genotypes with lower light requirements were crossed with six cold tolerant varieties. In 1999, 60 hybrids were identified and studied for reduced light performance. The standout was a dark green dwarf-type genotype later named TifGrand.

In more recent years the breeding program has changed its focus towards grasses that could withstand longer periods without irrigation. Those with a higher drought tolerance, that could perform well in a broad range of environments. This continues to become significantly more important with water restrictions and drought conditions becoming more common occurrences, not just in the US but right across the world.

This research resulted in one of the latest commercial turfgrass releases, DT-1. DT-1 is an interspecific hybrid triploid that succeeded in 19 drought-stress trials. After more than 20 years of continued evaluations the grass was released in 2014. This grass was named TifTuf.

TifTuf maintains better coverage, stays greener and requires significantly less water. After introduction and continued trials and assessments throughout Australia, TifTuf was released to the Australian market exclusively through the Lawn Solutions Australia national network of turf suppliers.

TifTuf is now the benchmark in Australia for not just couch grasses, but all grasses, and is showing all the superior characteristics achieved through a highly successful breeding program. Lawn Solutions Australia has led the way for TifTuf to be made available through significant investment and trials. This trial data and continued observation has culminated in the awarding of the Smart Approved WaterMark to TifTuf. TifTuf is the only grass to achieve this level of recognition for its water saving benefits.

We can’t wait to see what the team at Tifton come up with next.

Western Plains Turf

It’s not the famed Western Plains Zoo we are talking about here, but another iconic local business. Located in the heart of NSW, Western Plains Turf (formerly known as Orana Turf) started from humble beginnings. Over the years, it steadily grew into a business that services all of Central and Western NSW. The original name Orana Turf, traces back to over 25 years in and around Dubbo and the Orana Region.

The business is owned and operated by father and son partnership Mick and Tim O’Neill.

Tim and his wife Simone live on the property with their four children – Milla, Sully, Ellie and Halle. Born and bred in Dubbo, Tim was fortunate enough to spend most of his childhood outside in the backyard playing football and cricket with his mates, on his parents’ lawn. Tim has been heavily involved in the Dubbo community through the years, attending St Johns Primary and College as well as being a proud member of the Dubbo community through his passion for rugby league.

The family were originally timber cutters, Mick was 4th and Tim was 5th generation. A lot of the state forests around the area became national parks making it a dying trade with sourcing timber getting harder and harder. The family were at a crossroads as to what they should do. Tim’s uncle had the Orana Turf business, but it was a small farm. There wasn’t enough work for the three of them, so Tim and Mick made the decision to take on the business and expand.

Established in 2017, the family purchased a forty-five-acre property, converting it from mixed farming and horsing into a fully irrigated operating turf farm specialising in residential and commercial instant lawn.

“Soon after purchasing the farm, we stood a 200m centre pivot for paddock irrigation. Six months later a storm rolled through and blew it over on the last day before the Christmas break and it took four months to get any money to fix it,” said Tim.

The farm only had forty irrigation pipes available to keep twenty acres of turf alive through forty-degree heat. The pipes needed moving four times a day for two months, just to keep the turf alive. At this point, the family had realised they had bought into the business during one of the worst droughts in history. The rain had stopped, and the dust just kept rolling in.

“By the end it was nothing to have two or three major dust storms a week,” said Tim.

This put a lot of strain on relationships and the family financially. Dubbo then brought water restrictions in which has never happened before, without any warning. The families only income stopped. Two weeks before restrictions came in, Tim sprayed out twenty-five acres of lucerne, not knowing that could have been a small income to help them through.

“We were just about to give up… when it finally rained.”

“I still remember the storms rolling in, looking out the window you could see the rain once it hit the river it followed it and kept going around us.”

Since then, they haven’t looked back. Covid hit and they initially weren’t sure of what would happen, but business was good, and sales have been consistent. The family had managed to build the business from the ground up through the worst drought in history.

As of now, Western Plains Turf have three employees full-time and four casuals. Tim said they have been slowly building up and investing in their equipment, acquiring a bigger truck and forklift as well as a turf harvester.

“We have absolutely built our name and business up through hard work and pride in all the work that we do, from the first phone call to the way we leave each job site and our after sales service,” said Tim.

Western Plains Turf are now one of the exclusive suppliers of TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda lawn in Central and Western NSW. Tim believes TifTuf is the perfect grass for the region and has seen some incredible results in challenging conditions to date.

Tim is looking forward to what the business can continue to achieve in the west over the coming years. They might have a brand-new name and logo, but the same great people and product remains.