Supporting the Industry Through MTA

Here we go! 2019 is here already. I look forward to serving as President of the Mississippi Turfgrass Association for the upcoming year. It is my hope that our organization can continue to grow its membership as we reach out to all turfgrass management professionals and help them to realize all the benefits associated with being an MTA member.

Our goal as an organization is: to continually educate and support those managing turfgrass with current and innovative information and strategies, to raise funds for supporting research, as well as to provide scholarship opportunities for students pursuing a career in turfgrass management.

MTA has been building up a research fund in hopes of being able to fund a project that will study a yet to be determined area of interest to our industry – one that will help those in our profession make more informed management decisions related to a persistent and challenging topic of concern.

MTA has several events on the calendar every year. It is my hope that members will be able to attend as many as possible, and join in the education, fund raising, and fellowship. Our participation as one of the Deep South Turf Expo partners has been a tremendous success, as attendance continues to grow every year.

As this organization continues to grow we must all reach out to those in sports turf, golf course, sod production, lawn care and all turf-related industries to encourage them to join MTA and promote the value and benefits of belonging to a group dedicated to this challenging profession.

Thanks to Dr. Jay McCurdy, Dr. Barry Stewart, and a long list of vendors – without their help, we could not be successful. Most importantly, thanks to Mrs. Linda Wells and Dr. Wayne Wells. Linda is the glue that holds our organization together, and I speak for all of us when I say “Thank You for your dedication and all you do to make the MTA family what it is today!”

One of our anchor members, Wayne Philly, is retiring. He has been an incredible asset to MTA, and his leadership will be irreplaceable. Thank you, Wayne, and enjoy your retirement! We are also sad to see Dr. Eric Reasor moving from MSU to industry, where he will be working on product development for PBI-Gordon. We wish him well and hope to see him around. These positions at MSU are fundamental to our state’s (and region’s) turf industry. I hope you’ll join in efforts to support their replacement.

All the best,

Al Osteen

MTA President Al Osteen