The Turf Zone has featured recent podcasts on topics such as spring dead spot, the NC Sod Producers’ Report, high school turfgrass programs, and combatting employee burnout. Information on each of those is as follows:
Virginia Turfgrass Journal – Ava Veith, Travis Roberson, Aaron Tucker, David McCall Ph.D. and Mike Goatley Ph.D.
The Turfgrass Pathology lab at Virginia Tech has placed a major effort on managing and better understanding spring dead spot (SDS) of hybrid bermudagrass. They have written several articles in the Virginia Turfgrass Journal about the most effective ways to manage the disease over the last few years. Why such an emphasis on this one particular disease? Aesthetics are always an important part of properly maintained turfgrasses, but the most critical factor is how spring dead spot impacts the surface dynamics of the playing surface. More specifically, do these dead patches actually change the characteristics of a turfgrass playing surface enough to affect the playability of the field and safety of the athletes using these fields?
Turfgrass Council of North Carolina – 2022 Sod Producers’ Report for North Carolina
North Carolina Turfgrass – Grady Miller, Professor Turfgrass Management, Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University
This series highlights the resources that help turfgrass professionals work efficiently and respond quickly to the challenges of turf management. In March 2022, North Carolina State University conducted the seventh annual survey to examine the inventory and pricing of North Carolina sod.
Mississippi Turfgrass Association – Standing in the Shadows of the Game
Mississippi Turfgrass – Barry Stewart, Ph.D.
On April 20, Jay McCurdy, Ph.D., and Barry Steward, Ph.D., participated in a very interesting activity with the Curriculum Unit at Mississippi State University. Along with several other stakeholders, they began the process of creating a high school curriculum in Turf Management for Mississippi high schools. The plan is for this new course to be available to high schools in the fall of 2023. It will be part of the Vocational Agriculture Curriculum and will be an excellent way to introduce more students to turfgrass management as well as educating students who may be ready to enter the Turfgrass Management workforce or pursue more education in Turfgrass Management.
NESTMA – Combatting Employee Burnout
New England Blade – Neal Glatt, CSP, ASM
As inflation continues to rise, managers are starting to face an additional workforce challenge to the tight labor market. Employees are routinely being asked to do more with less, leading to increased burnout. In response, many young workers have started a movement of “quiet quitting” – that is, doing the bare minimum of their job description and refusing to go above and beyond. But managers can prevent burnout in the first place by understanding its causes and solutions.
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