The pace of change in Weed Management

Next week I'll be visiting some of our suppliers in Germany to discuss some exciting new developments in Weed Management Equipment. It is amazing to reflect on the pace of change in this area of our business.

Over the last few years, we have taken on several brands of weed management equipment from Europe, including;

• Ripagreen - Groupe Sefmat and HOAF who have developed a range of thermal weeding tools using hot air,

• Eco Weedkiller who make hot water weed control equipment
• And of course, we have seen developments from Kersten Arealmaschinen GmbH too, who make mechanical weed management tools such as weedbrushes and gravel path renovators.

This year we will begin selling a new range of tools for managing weeds, this time using electricity. More announcements on that front later!

Here's a teasing photo!

Having such a broad range of products allows us to help customers manage weeds in all sorts of situations.

In addition to the improvements in technology, there have been huge strides made in Integrated weed management methodology, which we have seen councils such as Cambridge City Council begin to adopt. This will further accellerate the pace at which councils and organisations act on reducing the use of pesticides. It is important to champion success stories like Cambridge, as it gives other councils the confidence to embrace the successful approach they are modelling.

I am delighted to have seen the phrase "herbicide reduction plan" being used more and more frequently, and I expect this to become commonplace ove the next few years. Councils that are declaring a Nature Emergency are sometimes making this a flagship plan in order to help tackle it.

We recently created a "Guide to creating an Integrated Weed Management Plan", which helps councils and other organisations to create a pesticide reduction plan. You can read it by following this link; https://kerstenuk.com/CAT-IWM

Our Integrated Weed Management assessment has also been developed, to highlight areas for improving a sites Integrated Weed Management plan. This has proven to be very successful, with some great feedback from those who have used it. https://kerstenuk.com/Kersten-Integrated-Weed-Management-Assessment.

With a new Labour Government in place, I am confident that the long awaited National Action Plan for the Sustainable use of Pesticides will finally be published, further stimulating the pace of change in this area. I don't have exact knowledge of the content, but I can tell you with certainty that Integrated Weed Management will be a key focus of the plan.

All in all it's an exciting time to be in weed management!