T H E A R KA N S A S T U R F G RA S S A S S O C I AT I O N M AG AZ I N E • S P R I N G 2022
A NEW STANDARD for
SPORTS FIELD MANAGEMENT
PLUS
HIGHLIGHTS from the 2022 ATA CONFERENCE
31°28’36.5” N x 83°31’33.3” W
Marks the Spot
UGA Tifton, GA
T H E A R KA N S A S T U R F G RA S S A S S O C I AT I O N M AG AZ I N E CO N T E N T S • S P R I N G 2022
6
10
F E AT U R E S
6 Recent Event –
2022 ATA Conference
D E PA RT M E N T S
10 Cover Story –
A New Standard for Sports Field Management
4 President’s Message 5 Index of Advertisers 5 University of Arkansas Turf Team
For turf news & updates, follow T W I T T E R . C O M / T H E T U R F Z O N E Find this issue, Podcasts, Events and More: T H E T U R F Z O N E . C O M Spring 2022
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ARKANSAS TU R FGRASS
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3
P R E S I D E N T ’S M E S S AG E
Arkansas Turfgrass Association P.O. Box 185 • Bryant, AR 72089 Tel: 501-860-0187
SPRING RETURNS I
Published by: Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street, Suite 200 Franklin, TN 37064 Tel: 615-790-3718 Email: info@leadingedge communications.com
Richard Covert ATA President
don’t know about you, but I, for one am so relieved at the return of spring and warmer temperatures. It was a long winter by Arkansas standards, and seeing everything start to bud and green up, combined with some fantastic weather, has me smiling quite a bit more these days. Everything seems more manageable when it’s warm and sunny. We had our annual meeting in January, and it was our first in-person meeting in two years. It was a blast, and we had great attendance, workshops, and talks. We had 2 award winners this year: for High School Field of the Year, Gillam Field at Beebe High School was recognized. This field is managed by Ryan Smith. For Field of the year, we recognized and awarded Lester White Field in Mountain Home, AR. Cody McKee is the manager of this field. We had some amazing trade show vendors as well. To see the list of who exhibited with us, check out the list in this issue. We appreciate all of our trade show vendors so much, and they are truly what helps make this meeting a success every year. We want to give a special recognition to our Show Sponsor, AgraTurf. We appreciate your continued support of the ATA. Keep watching our website for some big changes coming soon, and make sure you follow us on social media. Daniel O’Brien and Shelby Hanson are doing a great job with managing our pages. We plan to try and have a members-only event this fall, so watch for information on that! Enjoy the weather, stay healthy, and let us know how we can serve you! Richard Covert ATA President
ATA OFFICERS Richard Covert, President Baptist Health Systems Richard.covert@baptist-health.org Kyle Sanders, Immediate Past President Sanders Ground Essentials 501-315-9395 kylesanders@sandersground.com Jeff Haskins, Treasurer Paragould Country Club 870-780-5883 Ja1116@earthlink.net Shelby Hanson Executive Director sgouche@uark.edu Pat Berger, Director Emeritus University of Arkansas • 479-575-6887 pberger@uark.edu Charlie Bowen, Director Emeritus Arkansas Hydroseed • 501-315-7333 charliebowen@yahoo.com Seth Dunlap Arkansas State Plant Board seth.dunlap@agriculture.arkansas.gov 501-225-1598 Mark Brown Nabholz • 501-749-7459 rmbrown2@ualr.edu Rodney Fisher Life Member, Founding Member Agra Turf, Inc. • 501-268-7036 agrarod@yahoo.com Ron Fisher Agra Turf, Inc. • 501-268-7036 agraron@yahoo.com Steve Ibbotson Conway Parks & Rec. • 501-328-4173 Steve.ibbotson@cityofconway.org Josh Landreth Ace of Blades • 479-530-7001 aceofblades@cox.net Mark Mowrey, Director Emeritus Oaklawn • 501-538-1600 bntgrns@yahoo.com
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4 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Spring 2022
Guy Oyler Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation goyler@jerrypate.com • 501-317-5980 Rodger Pevehouse Life Member Michael Rush Rush Lawn Care • 501-279-8980 mrush@rushlawn.com Ricky Self Cypress Creek r.self@yahoo.com • 501-605-8000
U N I V E R S I TY O F A R KA N S A S T U R F T E A M
Mike Richardson, Ph.D. Professor 479-575-2860 mricha@uark.edu
INDEX OF A DV E RT I S E R S
John H. McCalla Jr. Program Technician III 479-575-5033 jmccall@uark.edu
Rhiannon de la Rosa M.S. Student
John Boyd, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor Cooperative Extension Service Little Rock 501-671-2224 Jwb019@uark.edu
Daniel O’Brien Ph.D. Student
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Spring 2022
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ARKANSAS TU R FGRASS
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Daniel O’Brien put together a phenomenal lineup of speakers. This group of experts offered essential information on topics that attendees can use in day-to-day operations. Those topics and presenters included: • Regulations (Seth Dunlap)
RECENT EVENT
ATA CONFERENCE
A
fter a hiatus from the in-person event in 2021, the Arkansas Turfgrass Association Annual Conference returned to an in-
person event on January 27–28, 2022. Back at
• Insecticides (David Held) • Turfgrass Breeding (Brian Schwartz) • Glyphosate and Cancer Risks (Jason Davis) • Practical Calibration & Application (Zac Reicher) • Branding for Turfgrass Managers (Julie Holt) • Future of Turfgrass Education Panel (Chuck Cross, Michelle Buchanan, Mike Richardson, Shelia Finney, Julie Holt) • GCSAA First Green Program (Johnny Walker) • Tallgrass Prairie Restoration (Jay Randolph) • New Turfgrasses for Gold Course Putting Greens (Brian Schwartz)
the Hot Springs Convention Center, the event
• Zoysiagrass Putting Greens (Thomas Walton)
once again delivered fantastic opportunities for
• Managing Toughest Soil-Borne Problems on Greens (Zac Reicher)
members to network, get CEU credits and many
• New Ways to Mow Grass (Mike Richardson)
other education opportunities. ATA Awards were
• Rethinking Endophytes in Turfgrass (David Held)
also presented along with tributes to Dr. Karcher and Ron Fisher.
• Optimized Cultural Practices for Responsible Sports Turf Management (Eric DeBoer) • It’s All About the Soil: Rootzones for Natural Grass Fields (Ed Norton) • Starting a Turf Management Program (Chuck Cross) • Pioneering New Tracks in Turfgrass Education (Michelle Buchanan)
ATA would also like to thank our event sponsors – with their support, we are able to host a great event! A G RA T U R F Title Sponsor B AY E R Education session ASGA Break Sponsor S Y N G E N TA Workshop sponsor G RA S S H O P P E R C O M PA N Y 2 Workshop sponsor J E R RY PAT E Education Session sponsor R E G A L C H E M I CA L C O M PA N Y Break Sponsor
6 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Spring 2022
The Trade Show floor was open all day Thursday, and ATA members enjoyed seeing the newest and best products, equipment, and services available from a great collection of vendors: • BASF Corporation
• NuFarm Americas
• GCSA
• Harrell’s
• Bayer
• Ladd’s / Kansas Golf and Turf
• GCSAA • Syngenta • Arkansas Group • Arkansas Turf Support • Jerry Pate • SiteOne • Regal Chemical • PBI-Gordon • MVP Genetics
• Specialty Sands & Services • Advanced turf Solutions • Ameriturf • Quali-Pro • Grasshopper Mower • AgraTurf • P&K Equipment
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R E C E N T E V E N T • continued
Don’t forget to congratulate our ATA AWA R D W I N N E R S !
2021 H I G H S C H O O L FIELD OF THE YEAR Beebe High School
Ryan Smith
2021 F I E L D OF THE YEAR Lester White Field, Mountain Home Parks & Rec
Cody McKee & Lester White
Thank you to all who attended, supported, presented and displayed at the ATA Conference! We look forward to seeing you again in 2023! 8 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Spring 2022
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B A S E D O N D ATA A S O F N OV E M B E R 2021.
COV E R S TO RY
A New Standard for
SPOR TS FIELD MANAGEMENT By Barry Stewart, Ph.D. Associate Professor – Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University
A
thletic field managers combine science, art, and long hours of hard work to provide playing surfaces that are safe, playable, and aesthetically pleasing. As Arkansas Turfgrass Association members know, there are numerous “standards” that give guidance to sports turf managers as to what minimums should be for athletics fields. Textbooks like the excellent “Sport Fields: Design, Construction and Maintenance” by Puhalla, Krans and Goatley, and Standard Test Methods, Specifications and Guides, like those published by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) provide guidance for what practices should be used to create safe and playable athletic fields. Awareness of these standards becomes important if the management of a field ever comes into question such as could happen in a dispute over liability. The STMA (Sports Turf Managers Association) has recently released “Best Management Practices for the Sports Field Manager: A Professional Guide for Environmental Sports Field Management” which represents a new standard. A great thing about this publication is that it is available for free. It was developed by many volunteers serving STMA from industry and academia, as well as the STMA staff. If you are a sports field manager, you should read this manual before you head into your 2022 field management season. You may find an idea or two you can implement, and it would be a good refresher for even the most seasoned professional. For years I have used Puhalla, Krans and Goatley as a textbook for my PSS 4443 Athletic Field Management Course at Mississippi State University. I will still recommend it as a supporting book for this class, but this semester I am going to use STMA’s “Best Management Practices for the Sports Field Manager” as my “textbook”.
10 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Spring 2022
Overseeding at Smithville, MS High School
Gulfport Sportsplex, Gulf Coast Softball Challenge
Spring 2022
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ARKANSAS TUR FGRASS
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COV E R S TO RY • continued
The manual was designed to provide guidance, but be adaptable as a general use guide, as well as for use at individual facilities. You may choose to adapt STMA’s BMP Manual for your own facility and possibly include parts for your employee manual. STMA’s BMP Manual will also help sports field managers educate a variety of stakeholders. These include decisionmakers such as athletic directors, facility managers, municipal managers, regulatory agencies, recreation committees, parent organizations, and the interested public. This will educate them on what athletic field managers do; why they do it; and how their management affects playability, sustainability, and the environment. The manual consists of 137 pages plus appendices and is divided into 10 sections: 1. Introduction, 2. Planning, Design and Construction; 3. Turfgrass Establishment; 4. Cultural Practices; 5. Pesticide Management; 6. Sustainable Landscaping; 7. Synthetic Turf; 8. Maintenance Operations; 9. Emergency Preparedness;
Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida
12 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Spring 2022
and 10. Regulatory Information. Section 4. Cultural Practices covers 51 pages and is broken down into: mowing; nutrient management; irrigation; cultivation and surface management; and integrated pest management (IPM). Each section ends with a discussion of best management practices for each topic. This is a very comprehensive publication and covers every aspect of athletic field management except for the management of people. With STMA being a national organization, the manual has information on both warm and cool season grasses. When tailoring this for regional, or facility use, it could be adapted for your specific grasses and practices. Much of this guidance is relevant nationwide. This starts with growing the thickest, strongest, healthiest turfgrass you can grow and the practices that allow a field manager to do this. That is what section four is all about. Successfully incorporating these BMPs requires an experienced, educated sports field manager, and the dedication to see them through.
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Spring 2022
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COV E R S TO RY • continued
Turfgrass fields are dependent on an adequate supply of water to perform well. Water is the medium that carries nutrients from the soil to the plant, provides some of the raw materials for photosynthesis and cools the plant through transpiration. There is an emphasis placed on water conservation and protecting water quality. Being good stewards of water will be an area of emphasis for all turf managers moving forward. Climate change will add uncertainty to the availability of water to be used for turfgrass. With some public opinion saying turfgrass uses too much water, it behooves us to manage it wisely. Proper irrigation scheduling, selection of water efficient turfgrass species, and cultural practices that allow better water infiltration and increased water holding capacity are highlighted in the manual. A tiered approach to water quality protection is presented, in which water quality is protected to keep problems from occurring. Water is controlled to mitigate potential problems, and water quality is monitored to ensure that fields are having a minimal effect on the environment. The use of assessment tools is highlighted to allow field managers to know where they stand, monitor the effects of their management, and assess how things may be improved. From simple tools like soil tests to more advanced methods such as the Playing Conditions Index (PCI) developed by STMA, data collection, documentation and analysis is emphasized to give the field manager a picture of current conditions and outcomes. To use these tools: records must be kept; observations must be recorded; field use should be documented; and pictures should be taken. As Dr. Wayne Wells told me many times “The best tool many turf managers have is their eyes.” The data generated will provide a basis for assessment of needs and justification for resources to counteract the degradation that field use causes. Many fields today are experiencing more use than ever before,
University of San Diego – Soccer Field
14 • A R K A N S A S T U R F G R A S S • Spring 2022
so documenting the effects of this increased use is a key to justifying increased maintenance. Having numbers and pictures that stakeholders can understand may be influential in getting those groups on board to help you make your case with those who control your budget. ATA members will appreciate that an integrated pest management (IPM) approach is also emphasized. Again, growing the thickest, strongest, healthiest turfgrass is the best defense against pests. The first line of defense in an IPM approach is to limit the amount of stress on our turfgrass. To do this, impediments like soil compaction, poor drainage, and nutrient deficiencies must be addressed. With this line of thinking we are proactive and not reactive. For example, using an aerifier to relieve soil compaction will help our turfgrass out compete goosegrass. Or perhaps by improving the drainage of an area, it will be less prone to pythium in the spring. Of course, there will be times when chemical application must be made to combat a disease flare up or a pest like armyworms that can cause severe damage if not acted upon quickly. Chemicals are one of the many tools we have to provide safe, playable and beautiful athletic fields. To summarize, “Best Management Practices for the Sports Field Manager: A Professional Guide for Environmental Sports Field Management” is a very useful and timely document that every ATA sports field manager should have. The manual can be used like a textbook and guide to provide BMPs for many aspects of athletic field management. It can be used as a template to write a BMP manual, or it can be adapted to be a guide for a specific facility or be the basis of an employee manual. It can be downloaded for free at https://www.stma.org/knowledge_ center/bmps/. While you are there you should consider joining STMA, many ATA members belong to both organizations. •
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The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Arkansas Turfgrass Association, its staff, or its board of directors, Arkansas Turfgrass, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Arkansas Turfgrass Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication. Copyright © 2022 by the Arkansas Turfgrass Association. Arkansas Turfgrass is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Arkansas Turfgrass Association. Third-class postage is paid at Jefferson City, MO. Printed in the U.S.A. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.
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Spring 2022
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ARKANSAS TUR FGRASS
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