DR. KEVIN KENWORTHY AND THE REAL WORLD UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA TURFGRASS BREEDING AND RESEARCH PROGRAM

By Suz Trusty

Editor’s note: Tis is the fifth in a series of articles covering university reports on their turfgrass breeding and research programs. If your University is involved in turfgrass breeding, please contact suztrusty@TurfGrassSod.org for the opportunity to feature your program in an upcoming issue of Turf News.

Dr. Kevin Kenworthy, Professor, Plant Breeding, University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/ IFAS) Agronomy Department, has a “real world” perspective that drives his turfgrass breeding and research program. Tat—combined with his commitment to the collaborative process—is opening doors to advancement across the state of Florida, within his broad network of collaborative partners, and throughout the turfgrass industry. And he’s doing it all with a smile, a welcoming handshake, and a core of integrity that builds trust and cooperation.

In 2004, when Dr. Kevin Kenworthy stepped into his turfgrass breeding and research position, the University of Florida had limited germplasm, nothing on the scale needed to build the program he envisioned. So he began collecting some material on his own. And, he reached out to some of those heading other University turfgrass breeding programs suggesting a collaborative arrangement and requesting they share germplasm with him. “Some did,” he says. “In 2005, our first fields were planted and we could begin screening materials.” Today, the University of Florida has a vibrant, expansive turfgrass breeding and research program.

Research Facilities As the turfgrass section of the University of Florida website http://turf.ufl.edu/about_us.shtml reports, it is a collaborative program, with turfgrass research conducted at three UF locations that parallel the diversity found within the state. Te details about those facilities included here are excerpts from that site.

Te main campus in Gainesville is home to the Turfgrass Research Envirotron, a laboratory, greenhouse, and rhizotron facility. Te new G.C. Horn Turfgrass Field Laboratory is located about 30 minutes south at the Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, where conditions are similar to much of Central and Northeast Florida. It features over 30 acres of turfgrass research plots for evaluation of turf management, selection, physiology, nematology, pathology, and entomology. While Dr. Kenworthy’s research initiatives extend throughout the state, he is based in Gainesville.

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Dr. Kevin Kenworthy is ready to field questions about the turfgrass research plots. Photo by Betsy McGill

In the Panhandle, the West Florida Research and Education Center (WFREC) at Jay simulates the heavier soils and colder temperatures found throughout much of western Florida. Te expanding research program at this location is under the direction of Dr. J. Bryan Unruh, who also serves as the state Turf Extension Specialist. His focus is currently 70 percent extension and 30 percent research.

Te turfgrass research program at the Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center (FLREC) includes development of best management practices for residential lawns and golf course greens, development and evaluation of new turf varieties, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches in turfgrass production and maintenance, turfgrass mineral nutrition, and disease prevention. Dr. Travis Shaddox, Assistant Professor, Turfgrass, oversees this program.

The Program Overview Kenworthy describes himself as a “hands-on, applied-field, turfgrass breeder.” His initial emphasis was on zoysiagrass because of the germplasm supply and the availability of funding from various sources. St. Augustine is the number one turfgrass commodity in the state. So he revved up the research on it and bermudagrass. In 2009, he started a program on bahiagrass. Kenworthy says, “Tese are the four main species grown in Florida and we’ve built a decent sized program on each of them.

TPI Turf News November/December 2016