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!
Bill Kreuser, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. On Thursday, January 24, he will be presenting Back to Basics: Understanding Soil Fertility and Soil Testing Results.
Soil test reports and fertilization programs are often needlessly confusing. This seminar will focus on the nutrients that are really important and explain which nutrients are rarely important agronomically. After attending this session, attendees will have confidence developing fertilization programs that are effective and affordable.
Andrew McNitt, Ph.D. is a Professor of Soil Science at Penn State University. On Thursday, January 24, he will be presenting Back to Basics: Improving the Soil Physical Properties of Highly Trafficked Turfgrass.
This presentation will review the basics of soil physics as it relates to both sand and native soil sports fields. The desirable soil physical properties required for turfgrass vitality are similar for both sand and native soil rootzones; however, the methods used to achieve that goal are different. In a sand rootzone, you want to employ cultural practices that continually improve soil texture in order to maximize the physical properties, while in native soil rootzones, you want to constantly build soil structure. These are sometimes confused or inappropriately applied to the wrong system. These issues and strategies will be discussed ‘from the ground up’ in this back to basics session.
Your soil physical property goals will be defined and the appropriate methods to achieve those goals will be discussed. Common soil physics misconceptions and misapplication of techniques will be covered. This presentation should help the attendee more clearly define the goals and strategies of their soil physical property improvement program and aid in the effective communication of these goals and strategies to non-turfgrass administrators etc.
