TURF INDUSTRY NEWS Redexim Adds Territory Manager for Texas & Oklahoma

Redexim Turf Products, the factory direct store for Redexim North America, based in Valley Park, MO, has added a new staff member: Tom Werner of Dallas, Texas. Tom is now the Territory Sales Manager for the states of Texas and Oklahoma.

Tom joins the Redexim Turf Products team with many years of experience on the golf course side of the turf industry. Tom graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Agronomy and Turf Management. After college Tom gained more than 27 years of experience as a golf course superintendent. Tom also has several years of sales experience. In his free time Tom enjoys watching college and professional sports, photography and the great outdoors.

Compass Minerals Names Protassium+ Sales Director

Compass Minerals, the producer of Protassium+ sulfate of potash, has named Scott Johnson director of sales for Protassium+ North America.

Johnson is an industry veteran with extensive sales experience, most recently with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Intrepid Potash. He will be responsible for driving sales of Protassium+ supporting the volume expansion projects already well underway at both Ogden, Utah, and Wynyard, Saskatchewan. Johnson’s leadership will provide the necessary foundation for further growth of the Protassium+ product line.

TSCA Reform: A Bipartisan Effort to Protect Against Dangerous Chemicals

President Obama has signed a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Te new law requires EPA to evaluate existing chemicals, with clear and enforceable deadlines. Under the old law, the tens of thousands of chemicals already in existence in 1976 were considered in compliance, without any requirement or schedule for EPA to review them for safety. EPA is now required to systematically prioritize and evaluate chemicals on a specific and enforceable schedule. Within a few years, EPA’s chemicals program will have to assess at least 20 chemicals at a time, beginning another chemical review as soon as one is completed.

Under the new law, EPA will evaluate chemicals purely on the basis of the health risks they pose. Te old law was so burdensome that it prevented EPA from taking action to protect public health and the environment–even when

TPI Turf News September/October 2016

a chemical posed a known health threat. Now, EPA will have to evaluate a chemical’s safety purely based on the health risks it poses—including to vulnerable groups like children and the elderly, and to workers who use chemicals daily as part of their jobs—and then take steps to eliminate any unreasonable risks found.

Te new law provides a consistent source of funding for EPA to carry out its new responsibilities. EPA will now be able to collect up to $25 million a year in user fees from chemical manufacturers and processers, supplemented by Congressional budgeting, to pay for these improvements.

Team UGA Launches Seashore Paspalum Website

A website dedicated to seashore paspalum turfgrass has been launched by Team UGA® at the university of Georgia. Team UGA consists of experts in warm season turfgrass breeding, pest resistance, management, licensing, certification, and foundation plant material production. Te website SeashorePaspalum.uga.edu was created to serve as a resource on the proper use, maintenance and research of this highly salt-tolerant family of grasses. It is administered by Team UGA at Te University of Georgia—powered by the expertise of dedicated scientists working in the fields of agronomy, entomology, weed science, plant physiology, plant pathology and molecular genetics—it is their intention to provide the information needed by the viewer to succeed in specifying, planting, utilizing and managing seashore paspalum on golf courses, sports fields and lawns.

Zeon Zoysia & Bladerunner Farms on NY Times Sports Section Cover

Tanks to all the interest in the Olympics, TPI member Bladerunner Farms and Zeon Zoysia were featured on the cover of the NY Times Sports Section on July 22. Te article can be found at http://www.nytimes. com/2016/07/24/sports/olympics/resilient-golf-turf-faces- test-at-olympics.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 . Since golf is back in the Olympics after a 112 year absence and the grass was new to Brazil there was added interest in the grass and the course. See the Turf News May/June issue, page 15 for more information. Watch for follow- up information on the Olympic natural turf surfaces in future issues.

59