Dr. Kenworthy reports that several sod producers have served as evaluation sites for many of the research trials. “For zoysia, we initially had grasses tested at five different locations: one at our Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra; one with Dr. Unruh at WFREC, near Pensacola; and with R.B. Farms LLC (Robbie Brady) at the Lake Placid fields; at Bethel Farms (Will Nugent) in Arcadia; and with A. Duda & Sons, Inc., Lake Placid, where Tom Temple heads the sod division, with the research taking place at their Cocoa Beach location overseen by Chris Leffler, farm manager. Te first research plots were established in 2011 and 2012. Until the last few months, I’ve driven around and rated them almost monthly, depending on the location, except for the plots in Jay under Dr. Unruh’s direction.”

Will Nugent says, “At Bethel, we started at the first stage, growing 80 zoysia plots, each 3-foot by 3-foot. Tey are isolated in our designated research area and we keep them separated as is typical in trials. We follow our standard maintenance practices, whatever we’d normally do, nothing out of the ordinary. And that’s the point of maintaining the plots just like our production fields. It shows how they react to environmental stress factors such as disease and insect pressure, heat and cold. We do compare them and let Dr. Kenworthy know what we think about them, but we’re not collecting the in-depth data. He is collecting and compiling that from across

through CAPs, we may find that one that underperforms in North Carolina or Georgia is excellent in Florida. Tat collaboration across the country is very valuable.”

Te turfgrass producers are making a huge commitment. Te research is taking up ground, resources, time, labor, and all the inputs of typical production (water, fertilizers, insect and disease control products).

Kenworthy says, “And that commitment will become even greater. We’ve identified our top seven varieties in the zoysia. Five of those will be selected for 5,000 square foot production blocks at the current four sod farm sites, along with two additional sod farms: SMR Farms in Bradenton and McCall Sod Farm, Inc. in Southport. Tese will be planted and maintained under each grower’s typical management program. We plan to follow the same steps with the St. Augustinegrass.”

When those production fields are ready for harvest, the next step will be the installation, establishment, and monitoring of performance under typical maintenance practices on selected home lawns. Te sod producers will manage the majority to that process but, because Dr. Kenworthy is so committed to this research, he’s sure to be very involved as well.

Hjort says, “Te end goal is an attractive grass the consumer likes that offers ease of maintenance, lower inputs, greater disease and pest resistance, and most importantly for us, and probably the rest of the world, drought tolerance and water use efficiency. Te return for our farm would be a grass better than anything else we’re growing that we can take to market—and our customers will benefit from it.”

Field Day attendees get updates on the turfgrass research plots from Dr. Kenworthy. Photo by Erin Wilder.

the state. Some of the grasses do well for us; some don’t. We’ve added the same size plots for St. Augustine with grasses selected from CAPs.”

Kenworthy says, “In 2013 and 2014 we selected the top tier of performers from the 3-by-3 zoysia plots for planting in 15-foot by 30-foot plots at the five research sites.”

Hjort says, “Tater Farms came on board for the 15-by- 30-foot plots. We have about 36 varieties of zoysia planted and we’re in our third year.” He adds, “With multiple universities sharing grasses and information

TPI Turf News November/December 2016

“When it comes time to release new cultivars, the advantage for us will be that we will have seen how they perform under our growing conditions and turf management program,” says Nugent. “A new variety needs to be significantly better than what we had—whether that’s through drought tolerance, more efficient water usage, reduced input requirements, insect or disease resistance, reduced time to get to market, or a combination of these factors. As sod producers, we have only so much field space to work with and it needs to generate a sufficient profit to make the return on investment worthwhile.”

Hjort says, “Real world research will not only bring new grasses to our members, but also opens an opportunity to introduce new tools to help improve processes and management practices.” Nugent adds, “With so much diversity in growing conditions across Florida, this multi-site research may lead to development of some niche grasses, targeted to where they perform best. Tat could give our members viable varieties to offer customers in specific problem areas.”

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