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Bobcat Introduces TL623 Telehandler
Jessica Schwartz
November Green Industry News
Arborjet | Ecologel BioPreferred Champions Arborjet | Ecologel has been recognized as BioPreferred Champions by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The products tested and certified for their biobased content include: Hydretain Root Zone Moisture Manager, certified to contain 93% biobased content, reducing watering requirements by up to 50% while also increasing nutrient uptake; and NutriRoot 2-2-3, a unique blend of nutrients, seaweed extract, humic acid, surfactants, and humectants designed to increase root development and reduce water stress with a biobased rating of 86%. Ecologel Solutions, LLC is an official pioneer of the program as one of the first 500 companies to earn the right to display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label on a certified product. As Program Participants, both Arborjet and Ecologel have been instrumental in the success of the USDA BioPreferred® Program, which is celebrating 20 years as the Federal Government’s official advocate and market accelerator for biobased products. The program has participation from businesses in 47 countries and more than 1,500 companies across the U.S. and reports over a 500% increase in certification of upstream materials from 2015 to 2022. This includes products cataloged as eligible for federal purchasing preference across 139 product categories, and an increase in reporting of biobased purchases by federal contractors nationwide. STIHL Inc. Invests $49M in Virginia Beach Manufacturing Facility Expansion and more The City of Virginia Beach is pleased to announce that STIHL plans to invest $49 million to expand its chain saw guide bar manufacturing facility in Virginia Beach. ...
Pollinator License Plate To Fund Wildflower Highway Habitats
Here’s another way to support pollinators: Pennsylvania drivers and motorists who want to encourage pollinators will soon be able to buy specialty license plates that fund wildflower habitats along state highways. Recently, the legislature unanimously approved and the governor signed into law Act 112 of 2022, creating the Pollinator Conservation Registration Plate and the Pollinator Habitat Program Fund. Based on legislation introduced by state Senator Carolyn Comitta and state Representative Kristine Howard, sales of the specialty license plates will support a new program to support the migration of pollinators by creating native grass and perennial wildflower-filled habitats along Pennsylvania state highways. The Pennsylvania Pollinator Conservation License Plates will be sold for $38 in addition to the regular registration fee. $25 of the fee is dedicated to the habitat program fund. “Protecting our pollinators is imperative,” Howard said. “By creating roadside native grass and perennial wildflower-filled habitats along our state highways, we will not only reduce maintenance costs, but beautify our state and protect our crops.” “Pollinators are vital to environmental health, public health, and our very way of life,” Comitta said. “By cultivating new pollinator habitats, we are not only supporting these animals, but our food supply, our agriculture industry, and our economy as a whole.” The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will release additional information on the design of the new Pollinator Conservation plates and how to purchase one in the next several months. Several other states have created specialty license plates regarding the importance of pollinators. These include: Georgia, ...
Landscape Product Manufacturer News For Summer 2022
As Summer winds down, it’s no surprise that the busy Green Industry is packed with corporate news. Here are a few highlights from the Summer season. KIOTI Tractor Receives 2022 Gold Level Award KIOTI Tractor, a division of Daedong-USA, Inc., recently received the 2022 Gold Level Award from the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA). This recognition is determined by dealer ratings gathered via the EDA’s annual Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey. KIOTI received exceptionally high ratings from dealers, setting the company apart and earning special recognition within its category. This year marks the fifth time KIOTI received the EDA’s Gold Level Award in the past decade. Previous years in which KIOTI was recognized include 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. EDA’s annual awards recognize manufacturers that are leading the industry by providing top-quality service, support, products and parts to dealers in the United States and Canada. Each year, the EDA administers a Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey that focuses on 12 categories including overall satisfaction, product availability and quality, technical support, parts availability, marketing and advertising support, and customer service. Gold Level Awards are presented to manufacturers that receive exemplary ratings and score exceptionally well for their respective categories. Syngenta Extends SummerPay™ To help customers manage expenses, Syngenta is introducing extended SummerPay™ terms on purchases of products needed to maintain clients’ lawns. Landscapers can defer payment until June 20, 2023 on purchases of the following products made until Sept. 30, 2022: Headway® fungicide 2×1 Headway 10-gal. LinkPak™ Instrata® fungicide 2×2.5 Warm Season Herbicide Solution Those that ...
Landscape Product Manufacturer News For Summer 2022
As Summer winds down, it’s no surprise that the busy Green Industry is packed with corporate news. Here are a few highlights from the Summer season. KIOTI Tractor Receives 2022 Gold Level Award KIOTI Tractor, a division of Daedong-USA, Inc., recently received the 2022 Gold Level Award from the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA). This recognition is determined by dealer ratings gathered via the EDA’s annual Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey. KIOTI received exceptionally high ratings from dealers, setting the company apart and earning special recognition within its category. This year marks the fifth time KIOTI received the EDA’s Gold Level Award in the past decade. Previous years in which KIOTI was recognized include 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. EDA’s annual awards recognize manufacturers that are leading the industry by providing top-quality service, support, products and parts to dealers in the United States and Canada. Each year, the EDA administers a Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey that focuses on 12 categories including overall satisfaction, product availability and quality, technical support, parts availability, marketing and advertising support, and customer service. Gold Level Awards are presented to manufacturers that receive exemplary ratings and score exceptionally well for their respective categories. Syngenta Extends SummerPay™ To help customers manage expenses, Syngenta is introducing extended SummerPay™ terms on purchases of products needed to maintain clients’ lawns. Landscapers can defer payment until June 20, 2023 on purchases of the following products made until Sept. 30, 2022: Headway® fungicide 2×1 Headway 10-gal. LinkPak™ Instrata® fungicide 2×2.5 Warm Season Herbicide Solution Those that ...
August Purchases Of Dovetail Workwear Support Pathways for Single Moms
Dovetail Workwear is a super-cool, super comfortable, super functional line of women’s workwear perfect for female landscapers. (I should know. I own a pair of Britt Utility Denim pants and not only LOVE them, but have gotten compliments on them!) And now, until August 31, every purchase on DovetailWorkwear.com will be donated to the Pathways for Single Moms Program. Founded in 2020 by the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, The Pathways for Single Moms Program employs a multi-pronged approach that shifts the future of low-income families through a combination of educational and economic opportunities to equip mothers with the tools they need to become economically self-sufficient. In Arizona, there are nearly half a million full-time working women who lack a college degree—more than 70,000 of whom are single mothers. None of the five most common occupations for single mothers of young children provide a median wage higher than $30,000. Without a path to further education, these mothers cannot increase their earning potential. Those accepted into the Pathways program receive 100% paid tuition for a one-year certificate in technical education, and Quality-First/kindergarten-ready childcare. They also receive a stipend to use towards living expenses, computer equipment, transportation, and more, as well as emergency funds. WFSA has also partnered with the YWCA to provide additional support, including case management, access to free clothing, hygiene supplies, ongoing career coaching, financial planning, digital literacy training, and wellness programs like the Women’s Counseling Network which provides referrals to free counseling for women without insurance ...
August Purchases Of Dovetail Workwear Support Pathways for Single Moms
Dovetail Workwear is a super-cool, super comfortable, super functional line of women’s workwear perfect for female landscapers. (I should know. I own a pair of Britt Utility Denim pants and not only LOVE them, but have gotten compliments on them!) And now, until August 31, every purchase on DovetailWorkwear.com will be donated to the Pathways for Single Moms Program. Founded in 2020 by the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, The Pathways for Single Moms Program employs a multi-pronged approach that shifts the future of low-income families through a combination of educational and economic opportunities to equip mothers with the tools they need to become economically self-sufficient. In Arizona, there are nearly half a million full-time working women who lack a college degree—more than 70,000 of whom are single mothers. None of the five most common occupations for single mothers of young children provide a median wage higher than $30,000. Without a path to further education, these mothers cannot increase their earning potential. Those accepted into the Pathways program receive 100% paid tuition for a one-year certificate in technical education, and Quality-First/kindergarten-ready childcare. They also receive a stipend to use towards living expenses, computer equipment, transportation, and more, as well as emergency funds. WFSA has also partnered with the YWCA to provide additional support, including case management, access to free clothing, hygiene supplies, ongoing career coaching, financial planning, digital literacy training, and wellness programs like the Women’s Counseling Network which provides referrals to free counseling for women without insurance ...
Christmas Trees: The Season Prevails Despite Challenges
While getting our Christmas tree is usually a family event, this year I was simply too busy to come along. And it’s usually a no-brainer anyway. A lot just around the corner from our home typically has an abundance of beautiful, reasonably priced trees. We buy from them every year. But this year was different. Hours passed after my family left to get the tree. They finally returned with an adequate but, to be honest, somewhat shabby tree. They reported something I had somehow missed despite the headlines: there’s a Christmas tree shortage this year. Not only was our usual supplier sold out, but so were many others. When my family finally found a tree, the seller wanted an exorbitant price. Luckily, my husband talked him down, but it was still over double what we usually pay. So I wasn’t surprised when I read in my news feed: “The crisis unfolding in America’s tree capital.” The Dec. 22 Guardian article details how Oregon’s late June heat wave and summer of drought, which made national headlines, wiped out millions of trees across the state. Oregon is the nation’s largest producer of Christmas trees, and many tree farmers described it as the worst summer in memory. According to the article: Larry Ryerson, co-owner of U Cut Christmas Tree Farm in Medford, OR, lost 4,500 trees. Dana Furrow, co-owner of Furrow Farm in Hillsboro, OR, lost thousands of seedlings, along with virtually all of its harvestable, u-cut Noble fir trees. Noble Mountain Tree ...
Christmas Trees: The Season Prevails Despite Challenges
While getting our Christmas tree is usually a family event, this year I was simply too busy to come along. And it’s usually a no-brainer anyway. A lot just around the corner from our home typically has an abundance of beautiful, reasonably priced trees. We buy from them every year. But this year was different. Hours passed after my family left to get the tree. They finally returned with an adequate but, to be honest, somewhat shabby tree. They reported something I had somehow missed despite the headlines: there’s a Christmas tree shortage this year. Not only was our usual supplier sold out, but so were many others. When my family finally found a tree, the seller wanted an exorbitant price. Luckily, my husband talked him down, but it was still over double what we usually pay. So I wasn’t surprised when I read in my news feed: “The crisis unfolding in America’s tree capital.” The Dec. 22 Guardian article details how Oregon’s late June heat wave and summer of drought, which made national headlines, wiped out millions of trees across the state. Oregon is the nation’s largest producer of Christmas trees, and many tree farmers described it as the worst summer in memory. According to the article: Larry Ryerson, co-owner of U Cut Christmas Tree Farm in Medford, OR, lost 4,500 trees. Dana Furrow, co-owner of Furrow Farm in Hillsboro, OR, lost thousands of seedlings, along with virtually all of its harvestable, u-cut Noble fir trees. Noble Mountain Tree ...
Will The OR Drought Affect Turf Seed Supply?
The 2021 grass seed crop is going to be very interesting as inventory stocks on many turf, forage, and cover crop seed species are at all-time lows, according to GO Seed of Salem, OR. The current drought in Oregon is affecting the industry. Oregon is the world’s major producer of cool-season turf grass seed on nearly 1,500 grass seed farms. The Willamette Valley alone, collectively produces almost two-thirds of the total production of cool-season grasses in the U.S., according to Oregon State University. The Oregon seed industry will be working diligently to try to get as much seed out as quickly as possible, but there will be issues. Production fields looked rough going into the winter and many fields didn’t look a whole lot better coming out of it. The damage last summer/fall from voles was real and devastating. The current drought in Oregon also offers a dim outlook since growers are at the period when moisture is critical for seed development. Rainfall Deficits Below is a table that shows the precipitation in Salem, OR over the last five crop years. When looking at precipitation there are two critical periods for seed production, fall and spring. The rainfall received between November- February is largely irrelevant as the grass plants are generally in winter dormancy. The Fall period is more important for tall fescue than other grasses, since precipitation is needed to develop new tillers prior to vernalization. (Seed yield from tall fescue can be estimated by the number of new ...
