MACHINERY
New Corvus dealers for the South East Kirkland UK has been announced Corvus dealers for the South East. Built with powerful engines, the Corvus UTV’s are ideal for orchards, farms and vineyards. Scott Worsley, Partner of Kirkland UK is excited to bring this new brand to the South East: “We found Corvus UTV’s to be the perfect addition to our range of machinery solutions for our customers. These popular UTV’s are ideal 4x4 vehicles thanks to their powerful, robust design with generous storage and load capacity making them high performers in any weather condition, which is exactly what the South East needs.” Managing director at BOSS off-road vehicles, Phil Everett is thrilled to have Kirkland UK on board. “We had been looking for a partner for Corvus in the South East of England and after talking to Scott for five minutes it was obvious that Kirkland UK would be a natural fit with us.
We share the same passion for success and rapid growth and an impatience to achieve. They are an extremely customer focused organisation and hungry to grow the business and explore diverse opportunities to achieve this. Together with their, already, well established customer base in the region it was a very easy decision to partner
with them for this area.” Corvus UTV’s can transport up to 450kg in the cargo box and with an amazing 309mm ground clearance they allow you to overcome any obstacle and terrain. For more information on these impressive vehicles contact Kirkland UK on 01622 843013 today.
Managing disease on compact sites Hobbyists are moving into viticulture to set up and run compact vineyards, creating demand for both specialist advice and new scales of disease management. “Compact vineyards are too small for conventional tractor-mounted boom spraying of the kind usually employed on larger estates,” says William Mower of Vine-Works, which establishes and manages vineyards, also advising operators on a continuing basis. “That means knapsack sprayers will provide the bulk of vine treatment for such sites, which range typically between 500 and 1,000 plants,” he adds. “We plant up around 35 vineyards a year and are seeing a steady rise in those wishing to take up viticulture as a pastime, rather than as a profitable business venture.” While knapsack spray treatment may seem a chore most estate managers can well do without, hobbyists will view such micro management differently. That said, the disease and pest threats are every bit as real on the bespoke scale as they are on the rolling hillsides of the big players.
“Pesticide bans have limited the scope of treatments available to managers to tackle perennial pests such as the spotted wing drosophila (fruit fly), which lays its eggs on developing grapes,” William explains. “An agronomist is vital in advising operators on their options,” he says, “but sulphur can prove effective against fungal attack from powdery mildew and plenty of brands are out there, such as Kumulus.” Absence of a whole spread of chemicals means more work for the knapsack operator though. “Organic and biodynamic treatments [advice available from Sustainable Wines of Great Britain] involve more passes because they are less effective, though less harsh, than banned chemicals,” William adds. The key challenge for managers is the high degree of disease impacting vines during the growing season, from April time through to October harvesting. “Spraying programmes conform to a 14-day cycle throughout the season, ending at harvest,” William explains, “depending on the varieties grown, as
some are more susceptible to disease than others. “Preventable spraying can begin before flowering and fruit-set to give some protection later in the season,” he adds. Qualified sprayer operators are vital to conform to strengthening safety standards. Sussex-based Vine-Works enjoys close links with nearby Plumpton College, which runs Safe Use of Pesticides training courses to ensure those safeguarding vine health are also shielding themselves and wildlife. Knapsack sprayer specialists Hozelock-Exel manufacture and supply the Berthoud Vermorel range, widely applied across Europe, which includes telescopic lances designed to fully penetrate lush vine foliage and ergonomically designed safety harnesses to help make spraying a comfortable experience that avoids undue stress on the body. www.berthoud/fr/en – www.vine-works.com
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