ATA President's Message

Successful Seasons

Hello again to all ATA members and Turf Times readers! I am very excited at the change from hot, long days of summer into the cooler, shorter days of the fall season. The fight to hydrate and maintain healthy turfgrasses during the summer season eases, as well as the battle trying to stay cool with my crew and teammates. Also, I am counting the days left until Labor Day and the official start of college football. War Eagle! Speaking of War Eagle, I want to say a big thank you to all involved with the Auburn University Research Field Day. Thank you to Auburn University for hosting a great field day and thank you to all that attended this great event.

The ATA board met to discuss recent and upcoming events. I really appreciate the willingness to serve and the passion of board members as they represent our members and their segment of the industry. The slate for the 2024 Board is presented in this issue. Please take a look at those roles ahead of our vote at the Deep South Turf Expo. I encourage you to consider board service, if asked. If you are interested in the ATA and would like to become more involved, please reach out to me or any other board member.

A great event, the Lawn and Landscape Workshop was held in Gardendale Civic Center on August 22nd. The Lawn and Landscape Workshop is a very informative meeting with half of the day being educational and half the day being hands-on demonstrations. This event is held every two years in rotation with the Sports Turf Field Day.

In this issue we have the complete schedule for the Deep South Turf Expo. The dates for the EXPO are October 16th – 19th in Biloxi, Mississippi. Be sure to register and attend this great event. The DSTE is the one-stop shop for everything turfgrass: tradeshow, educational speakers, golf tournaments, and much more. One of my favorite parts of the expo is the down time scheduled to enjoy dinners with industry peers, blackjack with buddies, or sight-seeing along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

This issue of the Turf Times has some great articles including; “Weather Apps and Decisions” by Bradley Jakubowski of Penn State, and “Ground Pearls: Big Headaches with few Solutions” by Dr. Katelyn Kesheimer and Dr. Joshua Weaver, both of Auburn University. These are great articles about the turfgrass industry, and we appreciate the willingness of the authors to share their insight and knowledge. Also, our member spotlight article this issue is incoming President of the ATA, Dave White. We thank David for his willingness to serve our association, and we look forward to his great leadership in the coming year. We want to bring to light his accomplishments and highlight his career in this issue. Thank you, David!

Also, with regret the ATA Board accepted Dr. John Jacobi's resignation from his post on the ATA Board as Education Consultant. We thank him for his many years of service to ATA. We want to thank John Nabors for stepping up to fill this important post!

Finally, I wish everyone successful seasons, and God willing, a great year as we share our passion of the outdoors, favorable weather, and that lush green grass.

Ben Williams

2023 ATA President