New England Blade - September 2020

September 2020

FALL WEBINAR LINE UP Member Spotlight on RYAN BJORN

Field Superintendent at Gillette Stadium Plus, The ResistPoa Project Enters A New Phase

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CONTENTS • September 2020 FEATURES 70 N ESTMA

HQ Update

0 F all Webinars Announced

DEPARTMENTS 80 W eed Update

0 Yellow Nutsegde Management in Turf and Landscape

120 R esearch

0 The ResistPoa Project Enters A New Phase

140 M ember

4 President’s Message

10 Guest Column

Spotlight on

0 Ryan Bjorn

15 Index of Advertisers

On the cover: Gillette Stadium • Foxboro, MA Find this issue, Podcasts, Events and More: TheTurfZone.com

Officers

Directors

Board of Trustees

President

Ed Ball Brewster Academy Wolfeboro, NH

Kim Britton Saint Anselm College Manchester, NH

Ben Polimer Town of Weston Weston, MA

President Elect

Advancing professionalism in sports turf management and athletic field safety through education, research, and scholarships.

The official publication of the New England Sports Turf Managers Association (NESTMA), the New England Blade is dedicated to educating, advising, and informing members of the profession and furthering the goals of the Association. The New England Blade carries news and features related to the sports turf management profession. Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited material and reserves the right to edit any article or advertisement submitted for publication and to refuse advertising not in keeping with the goals of the Association. Publisher assumes no responsibility for the validity of claims in connection with items appearing in the New England Blade. Mention of a commercial product does not imply endorsement by the New England Blade, NESTMA, or Leading Edge Communications, or preference over similar products not mentioned. The New England Blade is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of NESTMA. Presorted standard postage is paid at Jefferson City, MO. Printed in the U.S.A. Advertising: For display and classified advertising rates and insertions, please contact Leading Edge Communications, LLC, 206 Bridge Street, Franklin, TN 37064, (615) 790-3718, Fax (615) 794-4524.

Chris McGinty Framingham Parks Department Framingham, MA

Treasurer

Art Goodhind Town of Natick Natick, MA

Secretary

Brian Boesch University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI

Past President Victoria Wallace UConn Extension Norwich, CT

Special Advisor

Mary Owen UMASS Turf Program Rochdale, MA

Michael Buras, CSFM Longwood Cricket Club Chestnut Hill, MA

Ed Downing Read Custom Soils/ A.D. Makepeace Wareham, MA

John Cunniff Walpole, MA

Matt McDonnell The Governor’s Academy Byfield, MA Ed Olsen Town of Needham Parks & Forestry Needham, MA Jason Puopolo, CSFM Brandeis University Waltham, MA Evan Steele Pioneer Athletics Billerica, MA Andrew Walsh Pine Banks Park Malden, MA

Management Team Virginia Wood, Executive Director Peggy Benjamin Kristen Dreyer Carrie Martin Charissa Sharkey

NESTMA Headquarters

67 West Street Medfield, MA 02052 (508) 653-1241 NESTMA.org NESTMAinfo@gmail.com

Technical Editor Victoria Wallace University of Connecticut Extension

Published by:

Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, TN 37064 P: (888) 717-7141 LeadingEdgeCommunications.com

September 2020 • New England BLADE • 3

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

BRIGHTER DAYS AHEAD

It’s

certainly been a very weird summer. Record heat, little to no rainfall and, for most of us, very little play on our fields. In Weston, Massachusetts, our focus has been on lots of things other than sports fields. For me it has been delivering mail to closed schools, a lot of watering, septic system maintenance, and preparing for a hybrid school opening in mid-September. Some of us will have fall youth and school sports, and some of us might have very little organized sports. One thing this pandemic has shown us is not everything goes as planned. We can help each other by reaching out via social media, phone calls and virtual visits with fellow NESTMA members.

I know we miss seeing each other in person, but it’s for the health and safety of all. In fact, it was just announced that our industry’s popular annual gathering – the New England Regional Turfgrass Conference – will be held virtually in March 2021.

You can count on the NESTMA board of directors to continue to come up with creative ways for members to meet and learn virtually. Check out our terrific lineup of Fall webinar speakers on page 7 and stay tuned for details about Member Meet Ups coming soon.

I’ve been proud to serve as your President for the last two years. I want to thank Vickie Wallace, whose term expires in January, for her unwavering support of our organization. In January, Chris McGinty assumes the role of President. I have the ultimate confidence he will carry on our long tradition of offering the best education, networking and support for sports turf managers throughout New England.

Stay safe. Stay well. Stay in touch.

Ben Polimer NESTMA President

ITS NEVER TOO EARLY It’s never too early to renew your NESTMA membership for the coming year!

Renewals are quick and easy online at NESTMA.org/Renew21. Your continued financial support during these challenging times is important and appreciated.

VOLUNTEER LEADERS Have you ever thought about what it might be like to serve on the NESTMA board of directors? A call for nominations recently went out to members regarding board service beginning in January 2021. If you’d like to know more about what volunteer leadership entails, please contact any current board member or the NESTMA office for details.

4 • New England BLADE • September 2020

UMass Green Schools Goes Virtual OCTOBER 26 – DECEMBER 10, 2020

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very two years, UMass Extension offers its popular Green School, a comprehensive 12-day certificate short course for Green Industry professionals taught by UMass Extension Specialists, UMass faculty, and guest presenters.

Instruction in 2020 will be 100% virtual, providing attendees with resources via an online learning management system.

Three tracks are offered:

• Landscape Management • Turf Management • Arboriculture This comprehensive course is for horticultural professionals who want to gain an understanding of economically feasible and environmentally responsible plant and land care practices.

Students learn about sensible and sustainable methods of plant and land care as well as responsible nutrient and pest management. They learn scientifically sound information that enables them to make better purchasing and management decisions, and to be better stewards of the environment. The curriculum, which emphasizes a systems-based approach to plant care, is based on current research and focuses on Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Find the full schedule and registration info at

http://ag.umass.edu/ greenschool

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We provide core products to support recreational activities including but not limited to golf courses, sports fields, volleyball, squash courts, and equestrian. Our manufacturing facility produces damp and dry products necessary to support your specifications.

Our state of the art facility includes washing, drying, screening, blending and packaging and is dedicated to achieving your specifications. We can help you reach your objectives. Whether it’s a unique root zone performance specification or a high visibility wetlands reclamation project, our resources are available to you.

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www.slaternaturalfarms.com September 2020 • New England BLADE • 5

STMA UPDATE

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Begin Applying for Awards, Scholarships and Grants

Proposed Legislation to Watch

The

STMA awards program, scholarship and grants programs are open and the submission deadline is October 15, 2020.

There are six specific programs: Field of the Year – Awarded to natural grass fields that exhibit excellent playability and safety and whose managers utilize innovative solutions, effectively use their budgets, and have implemented a comprehensive agronomic program. Fields may be entered for the sports of baseball, softball, football, soccer, and sporting grounds (non-mainstream sports such as lacrosse, rugby, horse racing tracks, etc.) These awards are given in three categories: schools/parks, colleges and universities and professional stadiums. Sponsored by Carolina Green Corp., Precision Laboratories, World Class Athletic Surfaces and John Deere SAFE Turfgrass Scholarships – Awards are given to students who are pursuing turfgrass management or post-graduate research. Several of these are named in Dr. James Watson’s name and are completely funded by The Toro Company

SAFE non-Turfgrass Scholarship: The Darian Daily Legacy Scholarship – Named in honor of a legendary supporter of STMA and SAFE and a family man, this scholarship is awarded to dependents of members who are pursuing a field of academic study outside of the turfgrass industry.

Leo Goertz Membership Grant – Multiple grants are awarded to sports field managers or crew members who are not members of STMA. This grant is generously supported by Pioneer Athletics.

Gary Vanden Berg Internship Grant – Named in honor of Gary Vanden Berg, CSFM, for his contributions to the industry in promoting internships, students who have interned are eligible to submit post-internship to augment their internship wages.

Terry Mellor Continuing Education Grant – This named grant provides funding for a STMA chapter member to attend the STMA annual conference. This grant is made possible through the support of Turface Athletics.

For more information on STMA’s scholarship, awards, and grants programs, go to STMA.org 6 • New England BLADE • September 2020

As

By Bob Mann

we go to press in late August, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and co-sponsor Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) together with Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO) in the House introduced legislation that would remove entire classes of pesticides currently used by lawn, landscape and sports turf professionals and would significantly change the way that pesticides are regulated in the United States.

Senate Bill 4406 and House Bill 7940, titled the “Protect America’s Children From Toxic Pesticides Act of 2020” (PACTPA) would remove the organophosphate and neonicotinoid insecticides along with the agricultural herbicide paraquat. Additionally, the bill would allow ordinary citizens to petition the EPA to remove pesticides from the market, remove special use permits that are often used for local pest infestations, and tie those pesticides that are banned in the European Union and Canada such that those pesticides would be banned in the United States as well.

The EU and the USA have diametrically opposing approaches to the evaluation of pesticides, the EU using a hazard-based approach while the EPA uses a risk assessment approach. The problem with the EU system is that it is based in the precautionary principle which states that unless you cannot definitively prove that a substance is not a hazard it should not be allowed on the market. As you cannot ever prove a negative, any substance could in theory fall victim to this approach.

The bills would remove all state preemption of pesticides as well, meaning that localities would be free to regulate as they saw fit. If what’s past is prologue, what we witnessed in South Portland and Portland, Maine in the past couple of years would quickly become the norm as decisions based in emotion overtake those based in science, causing a confusing quagmire of regulations that differ from town to town.

And these are just the lowlights – you can read an overview of the legislation posted by one of the supporting organizations at this link: http://www.panna.org/blog/pactpa-puttingpeople-pesticides As we understand it today, the bill may get a hearing in the Democrat House but has little to no chance of a hearing in the Republican Senate. With the election just a few weeks away and uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the legislative races, we will have to monitor this bill closely and engage with our elected officials at the proper time to ensure they understand the severe ramifications that would result if this legislation were to ever become law.

Bob Mann is the Director of State and Local Government Relations for the National Association of Landscape Professionals in Fairfax, VA. Connect with Bob via email at Bob@LandscapeProfessionals.org.

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ONLINE LEARNING AT ITS BEST NESTMA’s Fall Webinar

any thanks to our education committee for putting together a top-notch educational webinar lineup.

While we’d all prefer to meet in person, on-demand webinars offer a convenient, affordable, and accessible way to stay up to date on the latest industry research and information.

NESTMA webinars are available on-demand to members for a limited time via Zoom. Please note air dates for each webinar.

Thanks, also, to our Commercial Partners who provide support for NESTMA’s mission of education and research through sponsorship.

Jason Lanier, Extension Educator at the University of Massachusetts kicked off our Fall webinar series with an excellent presentation, Effective IPM Starts with Smart Turfgrass Selection, that ran September 8 – 18, 2020.

Participants learned how matching species and varieties with factors such as site conditions and turf use are key to an IPM system in terms of reduced pest pressure and lower overall pesticide use. Many thanks to Harrells, Hart Seed, US Playground Surfacing, Replay Maintenance USA and Read Custom Soils for supporting our first Fall webinar.

UP NEXT OCTOBER 20 – 30, 2020

Know Your Audience:

Strategies for Discussing Pest Management Public pressure regarding pesticide use has increased to the extent that many athletic field managers are now prohibited from using pesticides altogether. Many professionals feel comfortable talking about the merits of pesticide use with colleagues but fall short when discussing the topic with those outside the green industry. Learn effective ways to confidently communicate the benefits of pesticide use with your facility’s decision-makers, stakeholders, and the general public.

This webinar has been approved for one (1) MDAR PACE contact hour. If you are a licensed pesticide applicator, please provide your license number when you register.

James Brosnan, Ph.D. Professor of Plant Science & Director of Weed Diagnostic Center University of Tennessee

NOVEMBER 17 – 27, 2020

Prepping Fields to Reduce Winter Injury Winter injury can be a significant issue in northern climates, resulting in declines in playability and turf quality as well as costly reestablishment. Topics for discussion will include the major causes for winter injury in grasses used for sports turf, physiological mechanisms associated with turfgrass overwintering and freezing tolerance, as well as important IPM practices to improve turfgrass winter conditioning while reducing reliance on pesticides.

Michelle DaCosta, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Turfgrass Physiology University of Massachusetts – Stockbridge School of Agriculture

DECEMBER 10 – 20, 2020

More Than Bugs in Jugs: Understanding Biofungicides for Turfgrass Disease Management

Biofungicides for turfgrass disease control are available, however adoption has been limited due to ineffective or unreliable control. The goal of this presentation is to explain what biopesticides are, how they work, and to discuss ongoing research looking at ways to enhance efficacy of biofungicides through improvement in the establishment and persistence of introduced biocontrol antagonists applied to athletic fields.

John Inguagiato, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Turfgrass Pathology Plant Science & Landscape Architecture University of Connecticut

For more information and to register visit NESTMA.org/UpcomingEvents. A Zoom link will be sent to you with your confirmation. For sponsorship information, please contact Charissa Sharkey at NESTMAinfo@gmail.com or (508) 653-1241.

CALLING ALL SPEAKERS & SPONSORS NESTMA’s Education Committee is always eager to bring fresh perspective and ideas to the membership through virtual programming.

Topics ranging from technical turfgrass management to leadership and communication have been suggested. Do you have educational information you’d like to present? Outline your idea using this brief online (NESTMA.org/webinar-form) and the committee will be in touch.

If you are a commercial partner who is interested in sponsoring NESTMA webinars, please reach out to the Charissa at the NESTMA office and we’ll find the opportunity that gives your company the maximum ROI. September 2020 • New England BLADE • 7

WEED UPDATE

Yellow Nutsedge Management IN TURF AND LANDSCAPE

By Randy Prostak, Extension Weed Specialist, University of Massachusetts

Y

ellow nutsedge is a member of the family Cyperaceae, or sedge family. Also known as nutgrass, yellow nutsedge is commonly considered to be one of the most troublesome and “difficult-to-manage” weeds of turf and landscape. While this weed is a monocot like grasses, it is not a grass. Despite it being tossed in the “difficult-to-manage” category, yellow nutsedge with proper product selection and application timing can be managed successfully.

Life cycle and description: Yellow nutsedge is a perennial sedge reproducing by tubers (nutlets) at the end of short, scaly rhizomes and rarely from seed. While yellow nutsedge can occur in dry soils, it is frequently more aggressive in wet areas. These areas may be wet due to poor drainage and/ or overwatering.

Upright, triangular stems arise from overwintering nutlets in very late spring and early summer. The triangular stems are the most useful identification characteristic, as you can feel the triangular shape by rolling the stem in your fingertips.

Yellow nutsedge leaves are light green, glossy, with a prominent midrib and taper to a sharp point. It is most noticeable in summer because its leaves grow more rapidly than the coolseason turf during the hottest summer months. During spring and fall, nutsedge growth is slower and not as easy to spot in turf. Yellow nutsedge produces a yellow to light brown seedhead, although they are seldom observed in frequently mown turf.

Cultural management strategies: The best method for controlling yellow nutsedge (and other weeds) is to encourage the growth of a healthy, dense, vigorous stand of turf that can TABLE 1: Herbicide for yellow nutsedge management1.

1

Randy Prostak, UMass Extension Weed Specialist

Information in this table should not be used as a replacement for reading, understanding, and following the label of any product listed.

8 New England BLADE • September 2020 •

compete with weeds. Encourage dense turf stands by following proper turf maintenance practices, including fertilization, proper irrigation, frequent mowing at the proper height and over-seeding as needed. Yellow nutsedge is most problematic in turf that is mown too short and in areas where soils remain moist from poor drainage and/or overwatering. In a landscape setting, physical removal of newly introduced plants can be utilized before yellow nutsedge has a chance to take a foothold.

Herbicide management strategies: Cultural management strategies will slow the spread of yellow nutsedge; however, a larger established population will usually require the use of an herbicide program. Several herbicides are available for the control of yellow nutsedge. Regardless of herbicide selected, yellow nutsedge is a “difficult-to-control” weed that may require multiple herbicide applications over two or more years.

Late spring to early summer is the best time to control yellow nutsedge because plants will not have started producing tubers (nutlets), making it easier to manage with herbicides. Since the nutlets are the plants’ primary survival structure, it is important to control yellow nutsedge early in the summer before it produces nutlets. Patience and diligence are required for the successful management of yellow nutsedge. Two to three years of control using herbicides are sometimes required to reduce viable tubers in the soil. Herbicides often injure or only partially control growing yellow nutsedge plants and help prevent more nutlets from forming, but herbicide applications will not control nutlets that are viable in the soil but have not yet produced plants. Table 1 provides a list of herbicides that are available for yellow nutsedge management. •

GUEST COLUMN

THE BALANCE MYTH

By Neal Glatt, CSP, ASM

For

many workers, work-life balance used to be a noble goal. The idea was that if we can do our jobs well for 40 (or more) hours per week, then it would be possible to provide for a family to go back to and spend time with off-the-job. If the time was in balance, and we could not worry about the obligations of work when spending time personally, or about personal issues when at work, then things would be good. There are a number of reasons that this myth doesn’t make much sense.

For one, what is “in balance” even mean? How do you know when the equation is balanced? If I miss an hour of work, do I “owe” it back to the organization? Or if I work an extra few hours on a big project, am I to be compensated more for them? What if I like work so much that I want to spend more than 40 hours there – am I off-balance?

Second, who can possibly separate work and life anymore?

Even before COVID forced us to work from home, where my living room, clutter, and/or children are on full display for my co-workers, business cell phones meant I was expected to respond after-hours or on weekends, at least for emergencies.

It seems like the line between work and life has been awful blurry ever since e-mail started showing up on cell phones.

Third, when I have a real problem, it bothers me no matter what I’m supposed to be doing. When I have a big problem at work, it affects my sleep and the balance idea doesn’t work anymore. Conversely, my mom was very sick in 2010.

She required many surgeries and eventually passed away in December. There were times, especially for the weeks leading up and following her funeral, that I was heavily distracted

10 • New England BLADE • September 2020

even when I wasn’t on bereavement leave from work. When a family member has a problem, or bills are overdue, or anything emotionally devastating is happening to us personally, we simply won’t be performing at the same level at work.

So, what’s a better solution? Work-Life Integration. The idea is simple: let’s find a way for what we do at work to fit into our lives in an integrative way. Employees do their best work when the mission of an organization inspires them personally. People want to feel part of something bigger than themselves and great managers help them bridge that gap between personal and work purpose. Gallup actually reports that workgroups which are mission-driven suffer 30%–50% less accidents and have 15% to 30% less turnover.

If you want to improve the personal and psychological well-being of your people (and we need to be doing so now more than ever!), introduce your organization’s mission regularly and help draw connections to individual contributions or roles. When daily tasks are connected to a higher purpose, everyone realizes more success and feels better about their chosen job. After all, we only need work-life balance if we hate our work, right? •

Neal Glatt, CSP, ASM is a managing partner of GrowTheBench.com – a leading provider of affordable online education, professional development and peer networking for green industry professionals. Contact Neal via email at Neal@GrowTheBench.com.

September 2020 • New England BLADE • 11

RESEARCH

The ResistPoa Project Enters a New Phase

By Jay McCurdy, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mississippi State University

The

ResistPoa project seeks new and innovative strategies that help practitioners make informed decisions regarding annual bluegrass (Poa annua) control. The project is funded by a $5.6 million United States Department of Agriculture – Specialty Crop Research Initiative (USDA-SCRI) grant and involves 16 universities as well as their research laboratories and lab members. This is one of only a few federally funded turfgrass projects in the nation, and we’re grateful to reviewers and stakeholders who were involved in its selection (Photo 1).

Our objectives are to characterize nationwide distribution of herbicide resistant annual bluegrass, seek out new and novel means of control, and identify socio-economic constraints that affect practitioner behavior.

The project is now in its second year. We are proud to have teamed up with Leading Edge Communications to bring our stakeholders an update through a series of podcasts and written communications.

Our Challenge

As a turfgrass weed, annual bluegrass’s color and texture are an aesthetic problem. It disrupts athletic performance as well as ball roll. It can survive and reproduce at almost any mowing height. It results in thinned and vulnerable turfgrass stands.

Practitioners and researchers alike find that controlling and managing it seems to be more art than it is science.

As an industry, we too quickly start our conversations regarding annual bluegrass by discussing chemical control options, but any astute turfgrass manager knows that we can’t keep doing the same things if they’re not working. We must also acknowledge societal and economic variables that influence our decision making. David Ervin at Portland State

12 • New England BLADE • September 2020

University and George Frisvold at University of Arizona are doing just that. Socio-economic investigations are collecting data through the use of focus groups and surveys. This approach challenges us to look beyond chemical control as a single dimension solution. Jim Brosnan from the University of Tennessee says: “This is the first time that I’ve been involved in an effort that is really trying to get at the sociological piece, the human element or decision-making piece of what we do.

And my hope is that by trying to understand those dynamics, it’s going to make the solutions that come from the research easier to adapt.”

Beyond chemical control strategies, a critical objective of the ResistPoa project is to develop sound best management practices (BMPs) based upon a better understanding of the ecology and biology of annual bluegrass. “[W]hat it’s going to do is expand our knowledge a little bit better on those aspects of Poa annua control that are now solely dependent on which synthetic herbicide to spray today or tomorrow or next week,” says Shawn Askew from Virginia Tech. “We’re looking more at the biology of the weed and trying to exploit its weaknesses.”

Controlling annual bluegrass requires a diversified approach, incorporating proper cultural practices that favor the desired turfgrass species, appropriate herbicide application timings and combinations that account for known resistance issues.

Another objective is to understand seed production and seedling germination. Given adequate soil temperature and moisture, annual bluegrass seed germinate and establish relatively quickly. The project seeks to understand this through a series of experiments.

In ongoing studies, investigators at Georgia, Mississippi, Penn State, Purdue, and Tennessee have been studying the effects of growing degree day (GDD) accumulation on annual bluegrass seed formation and subsequent germination. In 2019 and 2020, we tracked GDD accumulation from January 1 through flowering and eventual seed ripening. Across sites, it appears that seed germination rates rise rapidly after 1,250 GDD (base 32°F) accumulation and that the highest germination rates occur for seed retained longest on the plant.

Ongoing experiments at Texas A&M, Auburn, Clemson, Tennessee, Oregon State, Purdue, and Rutgers also seek to determine the effects of seed burial and persistence as well as seedling emergence patterns. Those efforts are complemented by studies investigating seedling emergence (led by researchers at Penn State) and other studies evaluating fraze-mowing as a mechanical means of depleting the soil seed bank (at Tennessee and Florida).

Herbicide resistance

One of the most comprehensive objectives of the ResistPoa project is a national survey of herbicide resistant annual bluegrass. This has proven to be a challenging objective. With more than 30 researchers involved, we have standardized procedures for population collection and developed workflows that keep whole greenhouses of plants alive at more than a dozen locations. We have developed techniques for rapid screening of an unprecedented number of annual bluegrass

populations. Our findings will be made relevant through the development of a user-friendly decision-support tool that helps facilitate herbicide mode of action rotation, as well as the incorporation of effective cultural practices.

To date, we have screened more than 1,500 annual bluegrass samples for postemergence resistance to the following herbicide modes/sites of action (and respective herbicides): • 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate-dioxygenase or HPPD (mesotrione) • 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase or ESPS (glyphosate) • acetolactate-synthase or ALS (trifloxysulfuron, foramsulfuron, and others) • glutamine synthetase (glufosinate) • microtubule assembly (pronamide) • photosystem I (diquat) • photosystem II (simazine) And preemergence resistance to the following herbicide modes/sites of action: • inhibition of cell wall biosynthesis (indaziflam) • microtubule assembly (prodiamine and pronamide) In year 1 of our study, we identified suspected resistance to many sites of action studied. Most of the resistant populations were from southern states. Of 776 samples collected in winter of 2018/2019 from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, 13% were suspected resistant to ALS-inhibiting herbicides, 8% to glyphosate, 5% to simazine applied postemergence, 3% to pronamide applied postemergence, and 5% to microtubule synthesis inhibitors applied preemergence.

Our work analyzing for herbicide resistance has only just begun. Suspected resistant populations that escaped preliminary screens of labelled rates are now moving though secondary rate-response screens to confirm and quantify resistance.

Confirmed resistant populations will then move through targetsite resistance screens at Auburn, where researchers will analyze for mutations within the genetic sequence for targeted enzymes. Unique cases (for instance, populations with multipleherbicide-resistance) will then be screened for non-target site resistance by researchers at North Carolina and Georgia.

PHOTO 1: The ResistPoa team includes researchers from Texas A&M, University of Tennessee, Mississippi State, University of Georgia, North Carolina State, Clemson, University of Florida, Rutgers, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Penn State, University of Arizona, Portland State, Oregon State and Auburn.

Find out more

The best way to keep track of our results is by monitoring our @ResistPoa Twitter handle. We’re posting updates and retweeting relevant information there. The website ResistPoa.org is a handy tool for stakeholders. We have included a search function that allows folks to look for published information by State, Turf Type, and Control Method. There are educational videos and a repository of webinar recordings. We’ll be adding a decision support tool over time. This tool should account for herbicide application history, site/mode of action, and much more.

PHOTO 2: Poa annua survives where few others can.

We look forward to sharing knowledge and best management strategies with you in the future. For more information, please visit ResistPoa.org, follow us on Twitter (@ResistPoa), and listen to podcasts at the TheTurfZone.com.

September 2020 • New England BLADE • 13

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

RYAN BJORN FIELD SUPERINTENDENT,

Gillette Stadium / Kraft Sports LLC, Foxboro, MA

Education • Vermont Technical College: Landscape Design and Ornamental Horticulture • Stockbridge School of Agriculture: Turfgrass Management • UMass Amherst: Plant and Soil Science How did you get started in the sports turf industry?

I worked at Fenway Park from 2007–2010 while I was in school at UMass. (I also worked one summer at the Wainwright Complex in South Portland, Maine). After the Red Sox season finished in 2010, I joined Jon Bengtson at Gillette and worked there until I was offered a position as Assistant Turf Manager in training at the Maryland SoccerPlex in March of 2011.

While there, I worked my way up and eventually took over as Director of Grounds in 2014. In August of 2019, I accepted the job of Field Superintendent here at Gillette Stadium.

Can you share a bit about your family life and what you enjoy doing in your free time?

My incredible wife gave up everything in Maryland to allow me to pursue my dream job here in Massachusetts. I will be forever grateful to her for supporting me throughout the process! We have the best dog anyone could ask for, Boyd, and love having our moments to relax and unwind whenever we can get a break from the grind — especially when that means heading up to southern Maine for a weekend at the beach or lake.

What advice would you share with people starting out in sports turf management today?

Never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. I think that a lot of us, as sports turf managers, fall back on certain practices/strategies that we are comfortable with, but that don’t necessarily advance ourselves or our industry as a whole. We need fresh ideas to help us tackle new challenges!

What have you enjoyed most about being a NESTMA member?

I would absolutely not be in the position I am today, if it wasn’t for being involved with NESTMA while at UMass.

The network I was able to build (and maintain while living in Maryland), the great people that make up the membership and their willingness to help one-another, it truly is a great organization. I am happy to be back in New England and be a member again! •

Who were your mentors?

I have been extremely lucky to have learned from some of the best in the industry throughout my career. From Dave Mellor, Jason Griffeth (now at Daytona International Speedway) and Weston Appelfeller (now at Austin FC in the MLS) while at Fenway Park; to my brief time working with Jon Bengtson at Gillette, and also Jerad Minnick at the Maryland SoccerPlex, I am forever grateful for all of the lessons I learned from these professionals.

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received?

It was probably when I was deciding whether to “make the leap,” pack up my entire life and move to Maryland for my first full-time job. It meant getting outside of my comfort zone and living away from friends and family, but a colleague gave me the courage to take the chance. If I hadn’t listened, I don’t think I would be where I am today.

What is the next “game-changer” you see on the horizon?

The next thing to make a major difference will be data-driven decision making. It has already started to be used and some great researchers/universities/industry professionals have really started to dig into what is possible when you use data to drive your agronomics, cultural practices, wear patterns, etc. The improvements in efficiency that can be made are really exciting and I hope that people in this industry embrace the change instead of sticking to “we have always done it this way and it has worked just fine.”

14 • New England BLADE • September 2020

Ryan and Boyd Gillette Stadium at night

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