Soil Scout Sensor 7

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INTERVIEW that means with hand probing. “We always worked on training and educating the guys on hot spots, and once they start going, teaching all the guys which areas need watering. So that’s how we worked without buying technology. “The minute the Soil Scout came, that ticked every box for me because it was realtime. What I could do, and this isn’t being over-obsessive with my job, I could have a quick look before I went to bed and then again when I wake up in the morning sat with a cup of tea. “And going back to before when I said our target could be 20%, and the guys come back, and it’s 21%. Well, I need to know where it was before it was 21%. So now, I can look in the morning, and they are 21%, but the night before, they were 28%; they’ve come down, and with the heat of the day coming, I know they are on a downward trend. “So, even though the 21% is technically correct, we’re in trouble that day, and we need to get on it. And vice versa, we could look at the greens and see some dry spots, but we can actually see the numbers are coming up from 16%, and it’s on an upward trend from the night before. “That’s where it’s changed it for me and made it a real benefit. And also, that’s a one-man job. All the team have it on their phones, so they know, and we don’t have to waste four or five hours with someone walking around with a stick. “It really changed our approach to irrigation this year in the hottest and driest year we’ve had. We moved our sensors around the course to our 18th green and put them in at two, four, six, and eight inches. That way, we felt like we were absolutely nailed on where the moisture was at every part of the profile. I slept a bit easier doing that. “Our visitor golfers were astounded by the condition of our course other than the greens, and I think that was because we were able to reduce the amount of water on the greens and use it elsewhere around the course. “I don’t know if we were lucky or what, but we chose a good year to start with the Scouts in 2022. It just gives you that piece of mind, and it also gives you that little bit in the morning just to give you a little pat on 10 soilscout.com | @Soil_Scout | #GainADeeperView
INTERVIEW the back with which way you’re going. “At the end of the day, your greens are everything. You can have the best fairways or tees, but the greens are the bread and butter of our industry, and if you’ve got good greens, you’re 99% of the way there.” Getting the best greens is more than irrigation, and using the sensors has helped Stuart refine the timing of applications. Everything is more expensive than it was four or five years ago, and the pressures of the job and golfer expectations have risen. This means getting the most from what he’s got and not applying products using predefined time frames. “It’s quite easy in my job to do something every two, three or four weeks. But actually, with Soil Scout, we know what the drying and wetting process looks like when our wetting agent is tailing off. So, we can put our next application on, which might be after 14 days because it’s been that hot and there’s that much water going on; it’s washing the product through. “And vice versa, we might actually get a month out of the product. So it’s adding to our integrated pest management, although the drying out isn’t a pest, it is a pest for the turf because it is a problem. It’s allowing us to apply at the exact time the ground needs it rather than just sticking to the oldfashioned time frames. “The sensors are one thing that reassures my decision-making processes and gives me that ability to justify the spend. For example, we’re introducing a new bent seed from America that could be a bit more costly than the older variety. It is working, but one of the reasons it’s working is that our times of application are good because we’re using data to make the decisions. “I probably didn’t realise how much I’d use the data. There aren’t many things people worry about in summer as much as irrigation. It’s getting tougher every year. The pressure on the amount of water we’ve got, the windows we can do it, and the expectation of golfers are going up. “But our role is getting tougher with pressure from the climate and pressure from the economy and money that’s coming into the clubs. Anything that helps me is good, but this has been a real game changer.” Our role is getting tougher with pressure from the climate and pressure from the economy, anything that helps me is good, but Soil Scout has been a real game changer Stuart Langhorn #GainADeeperView | @Soil_Scout | soilscout.com 11
Page 1 and 2: SENSOR GAIN A DEEPER VIEW OF SOIL S
Page 3 and 4: 200 MILLION SOIL MEASUREMENTS SINCE
Page 5 and 6: CEO OF SOIL By implementing advance
Page 7 and 8: INTERVIEW STUART LANGHORN BEACONSFI
Page 9: INTERVIEW #GainADeeperView | @Soil_
Page 13 and 14: WE ARE VERY PLEASED TO HAVE BERNHAR
Page 15 and 16: INTERVIEW ANDREW NORTHEIM HEAD GROU
Page 17 and 18: INTERVIEW "Once I looked into it, I
Page 19 and 20: INTERVIEW Soil Scout is technology
Page 21 and 22: OPINION Soil Scout Sensor is the of
Page 23 and 24: Meet the Soil Scout family THE UNDE

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