TURF AND COMPUTER SCIENCE By Andrew Aposhian

I am extremely grateful for the privilege of being a recipient of the Dr. Henry W. Indyk Scholarship from Te Lawn Institute. Being an Aggie at Utah State University has been a great experience. It is a great blessing to be able to increase my skills and knowledge in computer science, which is my major. I love computer science because it can be applied to so many

different fields. Software technologies definitely will have an exciting role to play in the future of the turf industry, in making both automation and farm management smarter.

Te advent of automation in the turf industry has been a great boost to many farms. However these technologies have improved over the years in part thanks to better, more precise software systems that control them. As these technologies continue to improve, in turn I believe we will see more capable, more reliable, automated turf farming equipment.

In addition to improvements to turf farming machinery, computer science has the ability to enhance the decision- making ability of turf farmers when it comes to caring for their crop. With the aid of data from things like moisture sensors, and aerial imaging, computers can use algorithms to help farmers know when, where, and how much to irrigate, as well as how to most effectively eradicate weeds and diseases. When properly crafted, computer algorithms have the potential to be much less error prone than humans when it comes to making decisions. Tis is why some of the biggest investment companies are making the switch to doing all their trading with computers. Huge amounts of data from sensors and devices on turf farms, coupled with the smarts of data processing software, could help farmers save big. Unnecessary costs could be cut and farmers could produce even more reliable crops.

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I also believe that better software can be made to help farmers run their businesses more effectively. Every aspect of business could be enhanced by better software, including marketing, logistics, accounting, and sales. I like to think of software as an extension of your brain. Running a turf farming business can be extremely stressful and complicated, but with the help of proper software, management could become more manageable (pun intended). Software can be a medium to organize the many tasks that a farmer has at hand in a more unified and dynamic way. With the help of better business management software, farmers could become more profitable while simultaneously lowering their stress levels.

I believe the limits of the applications of software in the turf industry have yet to be foreseen. Tis is because in theory software can allow us to do everything more intelligently, on the farming side as well as on the business side of things. I am excited to see how the industry will grow through the development of these new kinds of advancements!

Andrew Aposhian is last year’s recipient of TLI’s Dr. Henry W. Indyk Scholarship and is currently studying Computer Engineering at Utah State University.

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