Behind The Turf

Again very excited to have Pat Jones on our podcast for the second year in a row. Pat at the time of the interview was still running GCI Magazine however he has since moved on to Harrell's to look after marketing digital side. He is till involved heavily in turf and is a great asset to the industry. Also joining us is Dr Paul Koch from University Wisconsin. Paul is an expert in all thing's diseases from the cold snow mould and fusarium to destructive summer diseases.

We talk about research in the US and the changes it has undergone. Pat gives us an insight into the future of turf with automation and the advantages for the industry.

Fairy ring is one of the most difficult diseases to control. There hasn't been as much research on this disease as others. I sit down today at GIS to talk to Dr Mike Fidanza from Penn State and discuss this troublesome disease and he gives some insights in the best way to control this disease. Mike is the fairy ring gurus he has spent a lot of his career working on the disease and developing best techniques to help control it and recover from it.

I was lucky enough to sit down with Jim again this year and get an update on turf research into weeds. We especially spoke about Poa and the research group setup to deal with this troublesome weed. He gives good insights into resistance management and where we are as this is still the biggest issue facing turf as and agriculture markets. There has been more awareness of weed resistance and can only be a good thing with more tools being used as well as mixing between chemistries. We also talk about trying to control couch grass in bentgrass greens.

In today's episode I talk with Dr Ben McGraw from Penn State University. Ben is an entomologist and has unbelievable knowledge of insects. He has done a plenty of research into the bluegrass weevil which is similar to our Argentine Stem Weevil so there is a lot to learn here. Ben is really entertaining as well and I think could have been a stand up comic in another life.

I was lucky enough to catch Peter at the recent Australasian turfgrass Conference in Brisbane after his session on the work he has done in resistance testing in turf. Peter works at the University of Adelaide as well as managing Plant Science Consulting where turf managers can send samples of their turf for herbicide resistance testing. Peter was very open about the challenges the industry faces with herbicide resistance. I hope you enjoy this short chat with Peter. I will also endeavour to head to Adelaide to visit Peter in his home state.

Disease testing- everyone knows it but not everyone utilises it as much as they should. I give some thoughts on why its important and what benefits there are in confuting disease testing.

This is just my thoughts on social media and the use in the turf industry. Many of you now I am very active on social media and have presented a number of talks at various conferences in Australia. These are just some of the reasons why I love it so much.

In this podcast these are my thoughts on best use of fungicides in turf. There is some confusion in what to use and when abnd how each product works. I hope this short episode helps with understanding fungicides.

From time to time I will be putting my thoughts out there on certain topics and hoping to give some help in dealing with agronomic aspects of turf management. In this episode I am talking about ERI management and some things to think about in helping to control this disease.

Bruce Williams is known in a lot of turf circles worldwide and has been a regular visit to Australia with his work with Grigg Brothers through Globe Australia. Bruce has been on the GCSAA board and president of 4 GCSAA chapters. However one of his specialities that I wanted to talk to him about was his consultancy he does. He is involved in not just the agronomic side but the human side as well teaching turf managers to be better in all aspects in including, project management, budget and equipment analysis. I hope you enjoy this quick chat.