Industry News • continued
The Partnership of NESTMA and NERTF By Michael Buras, CSFM
Friend: You’re a sports turf manager? Me: Yes Friend: Cool! What have you been up to this winter? It must be a quiet part of the year. Me: Actually, I have been quite busy getting ready for the upcoming season. An important part of my job is continuing education and the off season is the best opportunity to do this. Staying up to date with technology, laws, best management practices and in general — better ways to grow healthy grass while protecting the environment. Friend: How do you do that? Turf management seems like such a narrow field. Me: Well, there are lots of ways to learn — online, vendors, books, but the best way is by attending a turfgrass conference and trade show and here in New England we have one of the best!
14 • New England BLADE • June 2019
In 1996 the seven New England golf course superintendent associations, New England Sports Turf Managers Association and Massachusetts Association of Lawn Care Providers got together and formed the New England Regional Turfgrass Foundation (NERTF). NERTF’s mission is to fund turfgrass research in New England and provide education for turf managers. They do this by hosting one of the largest regional turfgrass conferences in the nation. It has been held in Providence, RI since 1998. Research: Through 2018, NERTF has donated $2,341,000 to turfgrass research at New England universities. $553,000 of this has been sports specific research along with many other projects that encompass the entire turf industry. Recently, much needed research on pesticide free athletic fields and pesticide exposure has been happening at The University of Connecticut, with NERTF investing over $150,000 on this since 2017. The NERTF funded research can be accessed many ways; the researchers present their findings at the NERTF conference, NERTF.org has links
