Each month speakers presenting at the 2019 National SFMA Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona will be featured. Don’t miss the educational opportunities offered at the conference!
Bryan Hopkins, Ph.D. is a Professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. On Wednesday, January 23, he will be presenting Carbon Fertilization: Snake Oil or the Next Big Thing?
Carbon fertilizer has recently taken a prominent place in the fertilizer world. The focus of this presentation will be to be to teach fundamentals of carbon as a nutrient and discuss research and experience with these types of fertilizers.
After attending this session, attendees will:
Ross Kurcab, CSFM is a Turfgrass/Sportsfield Consultant for Championship Sports Turf Systems based in Colorado. On Wednesday, January 23, he will be presenting
New Technologies in Sports Field Sod Production, Installation, and Maintenance.
Natural grass playing surfaces are booked with more and more games. Non-sporting event revenue has skyrocketed in the last 20 years, requiring a greater and greater carrying capacity for natural grass playing fields to meet their missions. With our nation’s current shortage of sports fields, and a resurgence in the popularity of natural grass playing surfaces, sodding for repair is becoming accepted as a routine maintenance procedure to extend the use, or carrying capacity, of our limited number of ball fields. However, we have sometimes learned the hard way that not just any sod will do. Whether for in-season repair, off-season repair or new field construction, getting the right sod is critical to success. This presentation will examine the current state of the art in commercial sod production for sports fields from the field managers point of view, the end user, and explore ways to ensure that your fields can make it to the finish line with a quality surface for the entire season. Case studies will include installations with video and images, both from my experiences and others, to enhance the message: Sports field sod is best custom grown.
Attendees will learn about new technologies in sports field sod production and installation, surface stability, soil physical science, soil fertility, turfgrass variety selection and documentation, PGR’s, sports field quick-repair techniques and strategies, sports field sod installation methods and equipment, sports field sod performance testing, writing sod specifications, sod project management, sod costing, improving durability (carrying capacity) of natural grass fields, organic surface accumulation management and effect on playability.
