Soil Scout Sensor 4

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Soil Scout Partnerships For me it's been the game-changer, as far as how we approach what we do and how we go about it, it's led to our success is what I believe Greg Elliott | SF Giants Head Groundskeeper, Director of Field Operations are able to identify the key time frames and hit our surface appropriately. How are you utilising technology to help you achieve your objectives? GE: Technology plays a huge role in what we do at the stadium, we are fully committed to acting in a sustainable way for the future benefit of the whole San Francisco bay area and we are using technology to help us achieve this. We are flying the GreenSight drone, receive underground real-time data from Soil Scout sensors and also have the SubAir Systems submersible air flow system installed. All three elements play a vital role in how we approach our daily tasks, I liken it to a piece of pie, you take all those inputs and divide them up and are left with the information required to decide what the best course of action is. When the COVID pandemic hit and we were sent home, part of my immediate concern was losing staff members and putting them on leave. Fortunately due to the remote technology that GreenSight and Soil Scout offer we were able to manage a lot of what we are doing at the stadium from home. This still allowed for a smaller amount of the team to come into work and prepare the mounds and mow the grass. Despite the difficulties we managed to prepare for the unknown and later that year we ended up hosting Spring training camp which was a huge achievement for us considering the circumstances. Is there anything that you were specifically looking to learn about your pitch from the daily drone flights? GE: I wanted to see plant stress areas, I knew where it would come from but I didn’t know how severe it would be and how quickly it would come back. I wanted to be able to track this because a lot of what I do, I say something in a meeting and I’ll mention hey this isn’t good. You can only say that so many times before you see people’s eyes rollover. So now I have the information I need to say, look at what this has done, look at how we have to manage this, we need to do this, this and this. People used to tell us, ‘if it’s green it’s good’ but we are trying to manage the soil as much as we are trying to manage the plant on top. So for me it was more about figuring out a way to incorporate it into my daily routine and utilize it. That way I will see the benefits of discovering areas that were being over-watered. I’m also beginning to see even larger benefits like fertiliser release and disease pressure rise. But by incorporating the data from the drone flights and the Soil Scout sensors I can now identify where to allocate my labour so it’s also helping us manage our staff resources and activities a lot better as well. How often do you fly the GreenSight drone? GE: We are flying the drone Monday to Friday around 11.30am, five days a week. That might be adjusted a bit if we have a baseball game to get all the game information and sometimes we also fly when we have major events on the pitch. I’m trying not to force the GreenSight guys to work 365 days a year but we would very much like to have the option to fly the drone seven days! How many Soil Scout sensors do you have under the playing surface? GE: We have 12 Soil Scout sensors and have them laid out a little differently than others because we got into the sensor market due to our submersible air-flow. We have them set up so that one is on our gravel layer and the other is six inches below the surface. I think moving forward I would like them a little bit closer to the surface so I am going to remove the lower sensors and redistribute at a higher level, maybe even at a three inch level as opposed to six inches. However, we are not going to move them until the next time we do a field renovation. In the time that you have been using the technology have you seen any significant improvements? GE: Yes, I believe our water consumption is now significantly lower than most we have more traffic through the stadium than most do and we probably use less pesticides while still utilising the surface more than anyone else so when you combine all these factors together and your usage 26 soilscout.com | @Soil_Scout | #GainADeeperView Soil Scout Story Issue 4 V1.indd 26 16/03/2022 23:08
| Oracle Park Stadium, home of the San Francisco Giants is up and your inputs are down, I believe you are doing your job right. Would you recommend GreenSight drone and Soil Scout to other sports turf professionals? GE: Yes absolutely, I think the information you are going to get from it will help you manage not only your staff but your resources. We’re hitting the tip of the iceberg right now, this has already started to affect our cultural practices even during post-game work. We are pulling out the aerification unit a little more often. We are using some solid tines and we are loosening the soil and trying to manage that. One thing we have that others possibly don’t is some soil migration with in-field clay material that works into our edges, so that’s another area that we are able to monitor a lot quicker than previously. So by using the two technologies we are able to identify where it is happening and manage it sooner, getting some sand and seed down. We’ve had a very successful run with the drone and sensors so far and we are looking to introduce more technology very soon such as autonomous mowers. I strongly believe we must continue to raise the bar in the area and hopefully adjust how people view managing sports surfaces in the United States. For me it’s been the game-changer, as far as how we approach what we do and how we go about it, it’s led to our success is what I believe. 12 Channel Street, Suite 605, Boston, MA 02210 Phone +1 (844) 484-7336 | info@greensightag.com www.GreensightAG.com #GainADeeperView | @Soil_Scout | soilscout.com 27 Soil Scout Story Issue 4 V1.indd 27 16/03/2022 23:08
Page 1 and 2: Issue 04 | Spring 2022 SENSOR GAIN
Page 3 and 4: Editor Welcome Welcome GAIN A DEEPE
Page 5 and 6: CEO Welcome | Inside | Issue 4 We a
Page 7 and 8: Soil Scout Headlines | Bahman Doaei
Page 9 and 10: | Andrew Johnston General Manager,
Page 11 and 12: guys, “understand the green”. T
Page 13 and 14: 1 2 3 4 1 | All of Sentosa's golf
Page 15 and 16: | John McLoughlin Wallasey Golf Clu
Page 17 and 18: management was something I was goin
Page 19 and 20: Gain a deeper view Interview inform
Page 21 and 22: Gain a deeper view Interview Making
Page 23 and 24: we moved the flags. So knowing that
Page 25: Soil Scout Partnerships After turni
Page 29 and 30: Expert Opinion Dr John Dempsey I wa
Page 31 and 32: Case Study extremely short. Using t
Page 33 and 34: Meet the Soil Scout Team THE UNDERG
Page 35 and 36: follow the SOIL SCOUT STORY N Regul

Soil Scout Sensor 4

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