From the President’s Pen

Looking Forward

Happy New Year! Hopefully, everyone enjoyed the holidays and this issue of Alabama Turf Times finds you doing well. This year has started off better than last with our traditional live Road Show seminars. It’s always great for everyone to see each other in-person at one of the Road Shows and share what we’ve experienced and learned in the past year. Communicating with our peers is what makes the Road Shows so enjoyable, not to mention the valuable education the presenters impart and the pesticide renewal points earned.

The 2022 ATA Board of Directors had their first board meeting during December and were able to forge great plans for the coming year. Our new board members were present for this all-important strategic planning meeting to set the direction and events for the association year. I appreciate the input that each board member provides. If you have any ideas for the association that you want the Board to consider, please contact any one of us. Your request will surely be heard and discussed. We value what each member has to offer.

One idea discussed in December involved the Poa Annua Golf Tournament. This event is very important to the growth of our industry because the money raised through this tournament is given to the Alabama Turfgrass Research Foundation, ATRF. This money is awarded for research, mostly through the Auburn University Turfgrass Research Unit, to study, understand and solve emerging turfgrass issues and problems. The last few years attendance has been low for this event, so the board plans to move the golf tournament to the Birmingham metro area. Please try to attend once these plans are announced and support turfgrass research.

Talking about research, wouldn’t it be interesting to see into the future and what we’ll have to look forward to in ten years? Well, maybe we can! I’m really looking forward to the four-part Cover Story Series that starts with this issue of Alabama Turf Times. The title of this series is “Looking to the Future – Where Will the Turfgrass Industry Be in Ten Years?” I think you will agree, much has changed in our industry, it has during my career, and the changes definitely continue to evolve ever faster. This series will look into four important areas of the turfgrass industry that will continue to change and what we might expect to see involving: Pesticides; Equipment and Technology; Labor; and Breeding New Turfgrass Varieties.

A few ATA members have already started sharing their plans for the future as well as present experiences, via the ATA Twitter Account! If you haven’t followed us on Twitter yet, be sure to do so and tag us in anything industry related that you post. You can find us @ALTurfgrassAsn and we look forward to this being just another way to communicate and stay connected.

With everything coming up and looking into the future, I think it is important for us to also take time to talk about managing stress. Sometimes it is easy to feel overwhelmed with day-to-day life in our career field. Remember to make time for events, to step away and connect with peers. Make some connections that you feel comfortable picking up the phone and calling. Remember, others have dealt with the same, or similar, issues and may be able to help you with sound advice. That really is what this Association is all about. We are here to provide education, networking, and a sense of fellowship for all individuals in the turfgrass industry.

I know we all have had to change the way we operate over the last two years. The turfgrass industry and especially our Association members have proven to be so versatile. I am very proud to be a part of ATA and the turfgrass industry!

Ben Anderson

ATA President