2019 Turfgrass Field Day
Schedule:
7:30 AM Registration Opens
8:45 AM Opening Comments
9:00 AM Morning research tours begin
12:00 PM Catered lunch by Gravity Smokehouse and BBQ (pulled pork & chicken, cornbread, slaw, and beans)
1:00 PM Afternoon workshops/field tours begin
3:00 PM Afternoon workshops/field tours conclude
5 MDARD pesticide recertification credits available.
3 credits for 3A, 6, or Comm. Core for the morning tour and 2 credits for 3A, 6, or Comm. Core for the afternoon tours.
Morning Research Tours
There are separate tours for Golf and Lawn Care/Grounds/Athletic Fields. Each tour will have 6 stops of 30 minutes in length.
Golf Research Tour (3 MDARD pest. recert credits; .30 GCSAA Education pts)
Topics/Stops include:
Managing diseases on golf courses
Annual bluegrass control on fairways 
Rolling fairways and rolling during establishment
Putting green renovation practices including Basamid and fraze mowing
Update on Japanese beetle and other turf pests
Winterkill research update
Lawn Care/Grounds/Athletic Field Tour (3 MDARD pest. recert credits)
Topics/Stops include:
Disease management
Preemergence herbicides for weed control
Update on Japanese beetle and other turf pests
Annual bluegrass control in athletic fields and lawns
Herbicide timing and tactics for enhancing broadleaf weed control
Species and cultivar evaluations
Afternoon Workshops/Tours
1. Weed Walk (2 MDARD pest. recert credits; .20 GCSAA Education pts) limited to 60 registrants
As the weed walk enters it’s 19th year, the summer of 20189 has produced another bumper crop of weeds infesting turf. Dr. Thom Nikolai will lead the tour of the turf
center and teach identification characteristics of the common turf weeds and the best control practices. Tour will include discussion of best management practices both with and without herbicides to ensure high turfgrass quality and most importantly customer satisfaction.
2. Disease Walk (primarily golf turf diseases) (2 MDARD pest. recert credits; .20 GCSAA Education pts) limited to 60 registrants
The turf pathology research team will lead this diagnostic
tour for pathogens. If you have difficulty distinguishing between Laetisaria fuciformis and Limnomyces roseipellis on your golf course you definitely need to attend this workshop. Participants will learn:
- 1) How to identify the common turfgrass diseases using both in-field techniques and microscopes
- 2) Management options for common diseases including: dollar spot, brown patch, crown-rotting anthracnose, red thread, and pythium blight and root-rot.
- 3) How to recognize the symptoms of summer decline of both bentgrass and Poa annua
3.Ride-On Sprayer/Spreader Calibration (2 MDARD pest. recert credits; .20 GCSAA Education pts)
From simply understanding the output of your ride-on spreader/sprayer to some ideas to get more value from them make this workshop great opportunity for all levels of applicator experience. Today’s products have lower application rates and enhanced formulations. Which nozzles and deposition patterns will perform better with them? Are you guessing, or knowing your rotary spreader's overlap? Remember: Michigan Standards for pesticide use require “pesticide application equipment shall be properly calibrated”. All great reasons to stay for this workshop!
4. Spartan Stadium Athletic Field Tour (2 MDARD pest. recert credits)
Spartan Stadium, one of just four collegiate football fields in the country to win Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) Field of the Year honors twice, will be getting a new playing
surface for the 2019 season. This field tour of Spartan Stadium will discuss the conversion process from removing all the modules, installing drainage, replacing the rootzone, installing sod, and management practices over the summer to prepare the field for the first game in August.