President's Message

Changing Times

I took over as the Maryland Turfgrass Council’s President a few months before the world changed. A worldwide pandemic that is still causing our world to work and move in a different way may have reopened the eyes of many to the importance and benefits of the turfgrass industry. I have compiled some of the highlights from our Maryland Turfgrass community over the past two years.

• April 2020 Department of Homeland Security Guidance list of essentials businesses includes “landscapers” as essential (found in the Public Works and Infrastructure Support Services section of the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response version 3.0). The Federal Government continues to view the landscape industry as critical and essential.

• March 2020 Maryland golf course maintenance departments are considered essential during Covid 19 Pandemic.

• December 2020 Maryland Turfgrass Conference went Virtual. A great program that was able to support and benefit hundreds of turfgrass professionals in the state of Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

• June 2021 MASTMA releases Best Management Practices (BMP) manual.

• University of Maryland began the search for an Associate Professor and Extension Turfgrass Pathology Specialist.

• December 14, 2021 The Maryland Turfgrass Conference will again be in-person at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, MD with a limited virtual option if needed.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the conference this December. Please stay safe.

Ben Ellis

Maryland Turfgrass Council, President