Recent Event

2025 NERTC Show Notes

By Gary Sykes, NERTF Executive Director

With the 2025 show, our 28th conference is now in the books. I wanted to make a shout out to everyone involved and to give you our sincere thanks for another great three days in Providence! Some say, “it takes a village”, but for our show, we say, “it takes an industry!” Our industry in the Northeast continues to prove that its overall value is greater than the sum of its parts. This includes all individuals in all parts of the turfgrass industry. We thank you all for your support these 28 years and for our success in 2025.

We mentioned that the 2025 Show was going to be the year of the show floor shift. Many exhibitor booths had to be moved to accommodate the need to grow the floor. In 2024, we were maxed out wall to wall. So, we decided that a shift in the building was coming. Some may have missed this and we are sorry, but we felt it had to be done. This shift allowed us to reconfigure the left side of the show floor. The largest change was the move of MTE and Northeast Turf Supply. Many companies were affected by the changes, and we appreciate each vendor’s understanding. We also placed the auction in a new area, we were able to bring in additional vendors and return our popular driving range. The show floor grew by 26 more booths than we had in 2024. The shift was well worth it to the show and like any changes, it may take some time and adjusting to get used to the layout. We will continue to work with everyone to fulfill expectations.

How was attendance? We had another strong year of attendance. Tuesday seminars continue to be very popular and worth the effort invested in them. 780 seats were sold in the 13 seminars. Their popularity sometimes outgrew the rooms they were assigned to, so numbers had to be monitored constantly to eventually set up proper locations. We believe that a lot of our success comes from the quality of our education program, and we are committed to identify popular topics and speakers to fill the needs and interests of attendees. Our overall attendance basically matched our 2024 number of 1900 over the two days with an additional 780 vendor badges printed. That brings our overall attendance to 2680 from 38 states and provinces.

All sessions were very well attended and many positive comments concerning the speakers and topics they were sharing have been received by many on our board. During the trade show we could see that Wednesday was a full and busy day on the floor. It is our peak day each year and we know of its importance to everyone on the floor. We appreciate attendees who utilized the show to visit with vendors as the new year approaches. Thursday was another great day to spend some time on the floor and in sessions as numbers usually decrease just by the nature of the day. Every year someone comes up to me and tells me how much they enjoy being able to go onto the floor and speak to vendors without being pressed by others to move on. We hope to continue to attract those that enjoy Thursday and will guarantee to add a quality education program to encourage future Thursday attendance.

One of the highlights of the show each year is the live auction. We gathered donations from 42 companies and had a whole lot of fun with our new auctioneer Chris Ward from Ward and Company Auctions in raising $27,575 for turfgrass research. This will add to our efforts to fund turfgrass research in New England. Research and education will help to fuel the future of our industry. The foundation has committed to funding $198,000 worth of research in 2025 at UMass, UConn & URI. With total funding approaching $3 Million in New England since 1998 the foundation has no plans to slow things down.

We give the 28th Conference and Show high marks for its growth and attendance. We thank our vendors and all sponsors for committing to our promotion of the show and for adding activities that add to the content of the show and that attracts additional attendees.

Next Conference:

March 3 – 5, 2026 at Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence RI

NERTC Funds Research

Mike Buras and Ben Polimer, NE-SFMA’s representatives to the NERTF, shared the projects that will be funded through NERTF. Your participation in the annual conference goes a long way toward funding the research that keeps the New England sports field management industry on the leading edge of information and technology.

Current NERTF Research Funding 2025–2026

Investigating the Efficacy of Fluazinam Fungicide as a Tool for Managing Fungicide Resistance Dollar Spot Populations, Dr. Geunhwa Jung, UMass

2025: $28,000.00

2026: $0.00

••••••

A Chemical Scent Lure to Attract Bumble Bee Queens to Nest in Irrigation Valve Boxes, Dr. Steve Alm, URI

2025: $12,573.00

2026: $12,573.00

••••••

Pure Urea Fertilizer (46-0-0) in Granular Form as a Fungicide Alternative to Control Turfgrass Diseases Including Dollar Spot and Brown Patch, Dr. Geunhwa Jung, UMass

2025: $18,000.00

2026: $0.00

••••••

Insect Biodiversity and Management in the Grassy Natural Areas on New England Golf Courses, Dr. Olga Kostromytska, UMass

2025: $9,500.00

2026: $0.00

••••••

Autonomous and Conventional Mowing Strategies Impact on Mowing Quality, Turfgrass Quality and Disease Incidence in Four Turfgrass Species Dr. Jason Henderson, UConn

2025: $41,426.00

2026: $42,421.00

••••••

Evaluating Factors Impacting the Winter Survival and Spring Recovery in Cool-Season Turfgrasses, Dr. Michelle DaCosta, UMass

2025: $26,138.00

2026: $27,054.00

••••••

Identifying Key Factors Contributing to the Increased Aggressiveness of Dollar Spot in Early Fall*, Dr. Nathaniel Mitkowski, URI, Dr. Geunhwa Jung, UMass

2025: $34,000.00*

2026: $0.00

*The RIGCSA has agreed to share $10,000 of the cost of this research proposal.

••••••

Management of Yellow Ring Symptoms Associated with an Emerging Turfgrass Pathogen, Dr. John Ingugiato, UConn

2025: $28,949.00

2026: $27,274.00

••••••

2025 Total: $198,586.00

2026 Total: $109,322.00