Cover Story

NC State Turfgrass A Look Back

By Grady Miller, Jim Kerns, Travis Gannon, Susana Milla-Lewis, Qiyu Zhou, Terri Billeisen, Emily Erickson

It seems bittersweet looking back in 2024. It was a year of great events, research achievements and introductions of new faculty to our group. But it was also a year that we said goodbye to some stalwarts of our Turfgrass Working Group.

To start with the last one first, Matt Martin, Fred Yelverton, and Rick Brandenburg retired from NC State in 2024. Matt departed the group in January but is still working in the industry as the Director of Research and Product Development at AquaAid Solutions. Fred and Rick retired in July. Fred agreed to share Agronomist duties for the Carolinas Golf Association, so he is still working in that segment of the industry. Rick took on a special assignment in International Programs with NC State, so he is largely out of the industry ... except for “Turf, Bugs, and Rock-n-Roll.” These retirements are coming right on the heels of Charles Peacock, Tom Rufty, and Rich Cooper’s retirements in 2023 and 2022. It is a shock to the Turfgrass Work Group to have six retirements in less than three years.

To help cover the gaps, we added Dr. Qiyu Zhou in teaching and research in 2022 and more recently Dr. Ray McCauley to fill the extension void from Matt Martin’s departure. Dr. Terri Billeisen was promoted and is covering turfgrass entomology along with teaching several courses. We are presently involved with a faculty search to find a replacement for Fred Yelverton.

In December 2023, we hosted our biennial Turfgrass Research Symposium Turf Trends for Changing Times. The program included a keynote address by Dr. Trey Rogers, Professor in Turfgrass Management at Michigan State University, on challenges and opportunities for the 2026 North America World Cup as well as research updates from a few faculty members and lightning talks by graduate students. The event was attended by approximately 100 members of the industry in North Carolina. An additional 50 registrants attended the symposium via Zoom from within the US but also internationally.

In 2024, a number of extension meetings were hosted by NC State. As most years, we started the year in January with the Green and Growin’ Conference and the NC Sod Producers Meeting in Greensboro. We then held a series of regional turfgrass conferences in the spring in Guildford, Johnston, New Hanover, and Caldwell Counties. We finished spring by holding our annual Turfgrass Short Course at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course on NC State campus. The 40 available seats in the Short Course were taken the same week it was posted on the turfFiles website.

In early summer, the Landscape & Turfgrass Working Group organized two tours for County Extension Agents to visit prominent horticulture and turfgrass sites in Charlotte and Raleigh. In late summer the same group organized County Extension Agent training to over 60 extension agents, conducted by several turfgrass faculty at the NC State Plant Sciences Building and the nearby Turfgrass Field Lab.

Our end-of-summer field day in Raleigh was on a beautiful August day. Well over 800 attendees were able to get the latest information related to disease management, mosquito control, herbicide resistance, green fertilization, topdressing benefits, transitioning turfgrasses from cool to warm-season species, turf insect control, aquatic weed management, unmanned aerial vehicle use, and a host of turfgrass breeding studies. Parker’s BBQ and Howling Cow ice cream finished off the day.

The 2023/2024 academic year is another great success story. We added students in our Ag Institute, undergraduate and graduate programs. We now have 37 in the four-year program, 34 in the two-year program, and 20 graduate students supported by the Turfgrass Center for Environmental Research and Education.

Last year was also a very good year for publications, a common measure of productivity in University programs. We had 29 peer-reviewed publications from various disciplines in turfgrass science. There were also two book chapters, one book, and 75 extension publications that were developed by the faculty associated with the Turfgrass Center for Environmental Research and Education.

The Turfgrass Center continues to support high value research and extension programs for NC State. The industry advisory committee of David Lee, Todd Pippen, Casey Reynolds, and Jake Holloway guided the selection of the following research proposals for support in the 2024–2025 cycle.

• The Physiological Basis of Drought Tolerance in Zoysiagrass – Amanda Cardoso

• Improved Approaches to Annual Bluegrass Weevil and Fire Ant Management: Predictive Models, Expanded Distribution and Biocontrol Solutions – Terri Billeisen

• Building international linkages to enhance the visibility and capacity of the turfgrass program and NC State University to gain insight into new complex pest problems appearing in North Carolina – Rick Brandenburg

• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based turfgrass evaluation for modernized prediction of National Turfgrass Evaluation Quality Ratings – Rob Austin

• TurfDetect: Leveraging Polarization Camera to Detect Leaf Wilting in Turfgrass – Jing Zhang

• Accelerating turfgrass breeding by implementing genomic selection – Joe Gage

• Elucidating Influential Factors to Optimize Preemergent Herbicide Efficacy in Turfgrass – Travis Gannon

• Elucidating the underlying genetics of and breeding for increased seedling emergence in zoysiagrass – Susana Milla-Lewis

• Low-Input Conversions from Tall Fescue to Bermudagrass or Zoysiagrass – Grady Miller

• Biology and Management of Turf Diseases in NC, Focusing on Root-Knot Nematode and Turfgrass Microbiome – Jim Kerns

• Improving Bermudagrass Putting Green Nitrogen Fertilization Management by Understanding Growth Rate – Qiyu Zhou

• Ecology and Beneficial Functions of Turfgrass Root-Associated Microorganisms – Wei Shi

• Weed management and education programs for goosegrass (Eleucina indica) and annual bluegrass (Poa annua) – Fred Yelverton

Look for information on these exciting research areas in the coming years. As faculty, we look forward to new opportunities in research and extension. Also know that we are encouraged by our increased student numbers as we work to train the next generation of turfgrass managers and leaders for our industry partners. Please sign up for Turf Alerts on www.turfFiles.ncsu. edu to learn more about future opportunities and the latest news in NC State turfgrass.