By Don W. Roberts, Manderley Turfgrass International
IThe evolution of turfgrass science is an amazing story. Beginning in the early 20th century, what started with a few hands-on experiments has evolved into a 40+ billion dollar industry, world-wide. For the most part, it began with observations of naturally occurring grasses in specific macro-climates, and then along came the mower.
“Can you remember the first time your Dad let you mow the lawn? Back then did you ever dream that it would bring you to a niche like this? Does your spouse ever get tired of ‘turf-talk’ in social settings? My Spanish-speaking friends have a saying, “Hay tanto saber, pero tan poquito tiempo”. (So much to learn, so little time.)
During the past few decades we’ve seen huge advances in turfgrass variety development, and the rate of progress seems to be picking up speed. For instance, we continue to discover how to bring new genera and species to greater climatic and edaphic adaptations, and we continue to find ways to interrupt pest-host relationships in an environmentally friendly way. As informed consumers demand even more information, a growing number of scientists are entering the field to work beside their colleagues who are working diligently to find answers.
As all sport technologies develop, so does the need to develop or identify a natural turfgrass that can inherently perform to better standards. Even artificial turf has come a long way in recent years.
What is the latest and greatest? This is a question I get asked most every day.
Here’s where we find out
The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) is one of the most widely-known turfgrass research programs in the world. From humble beginnings when it operated out of Kevin Morris’ office at the United States Department of Agriculture headquarters in Beltsville, Maryland, NTEP now evaluates 17 turfgrass species at 70 locations in as many as 40 U.S. states and six provinces in Canada. Since the first test sites at universities in 1987, there are now 113 Tall Fescues, 53 Fine Fescues, 110 Kentucky Bluegrass, 120 Perennial Ryegrass, 28 Bentgrass, 53 Bermudagrass, 31 Buffalograss, 6 Seashore Paspalum, 6 St. Augustine and 11 Zoysiagrass varieties being compared and field tested.
A relatively new approach to variety testing is being conducted on golf courses. These cultivar evaluation trials are jointly sponsored and supported by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), the United States Gold Association (USGA)-Green Section, and NTEP. The USGA has funded the construction of USGA specification greens for the initial 16 trials. Drought and traffic trials will begin in several locations in the fall of 2009. Another 10-12 variety assessment trials will begin in 2010. Typically, ‘on-site’ trials happen where you have golf courses located near a land grant university with a turfgrass research program, or in major metropolitan areas which are readily accessible to a university turfgrass scientist. Regional evaluation trial sites have been established, and are located in: a) northern locations for bentgrasses, b) southern locations for bermudagrass, and c) transition zone locations for both species. Golfers practice putting and/or chipping and host clubs provide daily maintenance of the putting green site at their own expense.
Turfgrass development is happening all over the world, not just in North America. For instance, the Sports Turf Research Institute in Bingley, England has been conducting cultivar and utility hypotheses on over 400 varieties since 1929. In Australia, the Redlands Research Station at Cleveland, Queensland is testing 20 named varieties among six genera of warm season turfgrasses. I have visited university and private research stations in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Thailand, and hear of many more in countries where turfgrass science is gaining ground.
Turfgrass breeders, researchers, and extension specialists on this continent use NTEP data to determine adaptation and use of cultivars and experimental lines. Information such as turfgrass quality, color, density, resistance to diseases and insects, tolerance to heat, cold, drought, and traffic is collected and summarized by NTEP annually.
Seed companies rely on this data for advertisement and sales. Government agencies like highway and parks departments, use NTEP data when writing specifications for bids and purchasing. Most importantly, end-users, like golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, sod growers, lawn care service operators, and grounds managers, frequently use the data before purchasing seed or sod. NTEP data has become the standard for the turfgrass industry in the USA and Canada.
The Internet has made it very easy to access the data generated by NTEP. But, you can do more than access it; you can actually customize a report for your own climate! Visit their web site or call and give the folks at NTEP the location you want to compare to, and they will generate a set of data to fit your needs and answer your questions. There are small fees associated with special requests, and membership is only US$30 per year. If you haven’t been there, you owe it to yourself…. www.ntep.org.
How can I be sure that I am getting what I am paying for?
Probably the largest collection of information on turfgrass sod in the world is in one spot, and that is at the Turfgrass Producers International headquarters and web site. Also known as TPI, among us sod producers.
TPI is the worldwide association committed to the advancement of the turfgrass sod industry, and collectively the group’s mantra is…
“To represent and advance the turfgrass sod industry worldwide through the promotion of improved practices, the professional development of members and the enhancement of the environment.”
TPI’s membership exceeds 1,100 and is comprised of turfgrass sod producers from over 40 countries around the world, of which Manderley is one. Membership represents the most productive, knowledgeable and informed turfgrass sod producers, suppliers, manufacturers and educators in the turfgrass sod industry. The diversified membership of TPI, represented by 70 percent U.S. and 30 percent international members makes it a unique association where members have an opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with fellow turfgrass sod producers in a non-competitive environment and one which is open to mutual cooperation, understanding, and support. So, as a general rule, if you are looking for quality, have a surfing session at www.turfgrasssod.org.
Seed tags tell the complete real story, when it comes to going with cool season varieties. There are two levels of “certification” tags for the end-user. Blue Tag is certified, and is the normal level of certification that is used to verify that a low level of ‘other’ seed is included in the bag. Gold Tag is a certification level that most sod growers use (or should use) for planting their sod production fields. Each state or province has a minimum weed seed requirement for Blue and Gold Tag certified seed.
In the warm-season sod production world, most fields are propagated from vegetative plant parts called sprigs or plugs. Since the vegetative plant parts should carry the favorable inherent genetics with them, a paper trail and field certification program is essential… and the differentiator between a true-to-type product and just ground cover. Certification of fields is performed by third-party agencies in each state, and there are strict field minimum standards that must be met in order to carry the Blue Tag certification status in the end product (sod or sprigs).
Every state in the southern USA has a warm-season turf variety certification program. For example, in Georgia there are 13,390 acres of certified or registered class in Bermudagrass, Centipede grass, Seashore Paspalum, St. Augustine and Zoysiagrass production. Outside North America, there are 22 farms in 15 countries participating in the International Turfgrass Genetic Assurance Program (ITGAP) with warm season turf variety production. The states of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Idaho are the only states with Tall Fescue field certification programs for sod.
What’s on the horizon?
DNA fingerprinting, as shown in the CSI world, is also making great strides in the turfgrass arena. Recent developments have been made to simplify and fine-tune the laboratory techniques for determining whether a variety is or isn’t similar to another, on a molecular level. In the beginning, certain labs felt that DNA fingerprinting would be a good tool to determine cool season genetics, and recently it has successfully crossed-over (at Dr. Chen’s lab at the University of Georgia, Griffin Campus) to the warm season genera. This can be an additional tool in the diagnostic tool kit, when registering, patenting, or trouble shooting production and in-field questions.
The green gene: More recently, in the UK there has been much ado about the discovery of a naturally occurring meadow fescue that stayed green when surrounding grasses turned yellow and brown during stress and dying. Scientists at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research at Aberystwyth began backcrossing this meadow fescue with perennial ryegrass to come up with a ryegrass with the ‘green gene’. From there, a cultivar can be developed by normal cross-pollination and testing for other traits, until fine-tuned. This is exciting research, due to what could come with a ‘green gene’ variety in terms of drought, winter colour, lower fertility, and wear, cleanness of cut and disease resistance traits. Let’s keep an eye on that one.
Although a controversial subject, the scientific community has used genetic manipulation to insert specific genes in turfgrasses to include specific herbicide resistance, insect biological control, and markers. (Perhaps a topic for another article.)
Endophytes, which are in-the-plant fungi and have been around forever, are proving to be symbiotic and beneficial. Found in certain cool-season turfgrass species and cultivars, endophytes enable the plant to resist feeding of some insect pests and have also been shown to increase stress tolerance. Breeders and seed proprietors are using endophytes to improve variety performance.
Wikipedia has a pretty complete definition of the term ‘evolution’. Without intent to open a can of worms in the title of this article, I can see where ‘Turf Man’ has played a major role in creating a need for improved turfgrass performance by studying and managing what is found in nature. In closing, I can subjectively say that it is ‘all good’. Ask for certified, know your flora, terra firma and fauna, know your supplier, and keep an eye on the horizon.
About the author
Don W. Roberts, Consulting Agronomist & Managing Director for Manderley Turfgrass International, has 25 years of specialized expertise in the turfgrass industry.
A Masters of Science graduate from Clemson University, Horticulture/ Plant Pathology in 1987, Don is a sought-after speaker, and has written many articles including “Turfgrass Selection For Golf Courses”, “Improved Grasses for Greens, Tees and Fairways of East Asia”, and “Cost Savings in Golf Course Design for Turf Management” for a wide variety of turf related publications.
Don has provided agronomic advisory services to more than 300 golf courses and over 150 athletic facilities in North America and internationally.
Don is active in the golf community and is associated with several professional and academic organizations, including the American Society of Agronomy, American Society of Golf Course Architects, American Sod Producers Association, Golf Course Builders of America, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Sports Turf Managers Association of America.
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