PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT IN SEED AND VEGETATIVE STOCK
Protect your investment is a principle ingrained from that first stashing of cash in a piggy bank, and—for many of you—hiding that piggy bank from your siblings. So, early on, you learned that protecting an investment was worthy of your attention, and sooner or later, you also learned that it could be a multi-step process.
Te same is true of your investment in your business, though the stakes are higher and the processes multiplied many times over and much more complex.
As a sod producer, you’ve learned the value of an investment is seldom static. It may appreciate or depreciate depending on its condition, its value to your business operations, and its value to those who might purchase it or use it.
Most of you anticipate that the value of your land will appreciate. Tough that increase in value is not assured, it’s a trend you’ve observed over time and you base the degree of your protection of that land on that premise. You expect the value of your equipment to depreciate. And most of you protect your equipment investment by taking steps to slow the rate of that depreciation through proper use and maintenance. At the same time, you analyze the effectiveness of that equipment to your business operations
to determine the point at which it will be more cost effective to replace that investment than protect it.
Protecting your investment in seed and vegetative stock is just as important as protecting your investment in land and equipment but, because that material becomes the product you sell as a sod producer, the types of protection are more complex.
Te next three articles address different aspects of protecting your investment in seed and vegetative stock.
In his article, “TWCA Program Update,” Jack Karlin, program administrator for the Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance, reports that TWCA members are committed to water conservation and dedicated to preserving the ecological benefits of turf in a managed environment. In his article, “A-LIST Approves New Varieties for 2016,” Jeremy Husen, executive director for the Alliance for Low Input Sustainable Turf, details how the A-LIST designation relates to seed and vegetative stock value. In her article, “Turfgrass Research: Te New Funding Paradigm,” Stacie Zinn Roberts addresses a collaborative option for protecting your seed and vegetative stock investment.
TWCA PROGRAM UPDATE By Jack Karlin
Te Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance qualifies grasses that demonstrate a statistically significant water saving potential over conventional varieties of the same species. To do this we rely on a standard protocol for collecting and analyzing objective data from 14 trials with 13 research collaborators across North America. Once the data has been collected and analyzed, the results are sent to our third party peer review board of researchers from the University of Arkansas and Purdue University. Our review panel ultimately makes the final qualification recommendations based solely on the evidence presented by research collaborators.
Since implementing a program administrator in 2014 the Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance (TWCA) has expanded, not only its membership, but also its role in the turf industry and in its members’ communities. Tis expansion of role comes in myriad forms from advocacy, to diversified trialing and even includes philanthropic works.
TWCA’s membership has grown to more than 100 members in the last two years and represents a broad
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coalition of government, university, and turf industry representatives all committed to water conservation and dedicated to preserving the ecological benefits of turf in a managed environment. Tis diverse membership comes from twenty-seven states, four provinces, and three countries around the world.
Tis diverse membership base is an incredible asset in the intensive advocacy work TWCA has been doing in the key turf battleground state of California. Trough active participation and support in the form of public comment from university, government and industry members, TWCA acted as the only consistent voice for the turf industry during the Independent Technical Panel on Demand Management Measures meetings. Tese efforts allowed TWCA to de-emphasize Turf Removal programs in their final report to the California Department of Water Resources and the Legislature. Tis victory replaced an entire “Voluntary Turf Replacement” section of the report with “Voluntary Landscape Conversion.”
TWCA’s role in the turf industry has evolved in other ways as well. Beginning in 2015 TWCA established its first public demonstration plots in Ashland, OR, in
TPI Turf News September/October 2016
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