President’s Message
Hello and Welcome to summer!
As usual, Texas enjoyed its extended Spring this year…it was a Thursday in March. Now the dog days of summer are upon us. In our industry it means 100-degree temperatures and 14-hour workdays. All is not lost however, as the Texas Turfgrass Association Summer conference is just around the corner.
This year the TTA summer conference will be held at Kalahari Resort & Waterpark in Round Rock. This is the largest indoor water park in America, highlighting 223,000 sq. Ft. of wet, wild fun for all ages. In addition to the usual outstanding slate of speakers and vendor tabletop displays, TTA will host a Sunday night extravaganza. It will be a family-friendly event with live music, appetizers, and a cash bar. Grab your family and enter in a corn hole tournament with cash prizes. Who does not like cash? It will be an event that cannot be missed.
TTA is also putting the finishing touches on the Winter conference in Corpus Christi on December 17th and 17th, 2024. This year’s event is shaping up to be one of the biggest in recent history. In addition to speakers, CEU's, vendor exhibits, and networking opportunities, TTA will also have its Famous Gun raffle. Up for grabs will be fifteen of the finest guns available personally picked out by yours truly. Keep an eye out for details and secure your raffle tickets as last time they were sold out before the conference even started!
Until then, good luck and stay cool. I will see you at Kalahari.
Sincerely, Scott Sipes
5 Executive Director Message
Welcome to Summer 2024!
A great big Thank You to all our Exhibitors, Sponsors, and Members for being a part of this Summer Conference at Kalahari. One thing you will notice this year on our name badges at the Conference is a “New Member” Ribbon! Please take the time to recognize and welcome all New Members who have decided to join TTA and become a part of this association and professional industry. There is so much knowledge and comradery in the association and I want all new members to feel welcomed immediately!
TTA is constantly innovating new features at conferences and this summer you can enjoy a Family Fun Event on Sunday night, July 14th at Kalahari. We will have a live band, cash bar, and corn hole tournament. Please do not miss it and watch for additional reminders for those who are registered.
Our Awards Program will also be coming up – Submissions are due in September, and I would love to have all members consider submitting consideration on fields, landscapes, or golf courses that you think are deserving of recognition. This is also due to your staff that put the work and dedication in. If you have staffing issues as well, that is commendable to be able to succeed with minimal talent. Please feel free to reach out to me for additional questions.
Award recipients are recognized at the Winter Conference on December 17-18th, 2024 in Corpus Christi, TX. We hope to see so many of you there!
Speaking of staffing issues, please remember TTA’s job board for all members. I try to keep all job postings available for 60 days. Email me all open positions and I will make sure the job opportunity is available on our website as soon as possible.
Thank you to our Board of Directors, Advisors, and Sponsors for your constant work and support!
God Bless! Warmest Regards, Your Executive Director, Katie Flowers
Winter Conference
December 17 - 18 Corpus Christi
Beretta A300 Synthetic Shotgun 12 or 20 gauge
Remington 700 BDL 270 Winchester Bolt Rifle
Ruger Blackhawk 357 Revolver
Springfield SR 35 9mm Auto Pistol
Sig Sauer P320 9mm Auto Pistol
Henry Goldenboy 22LR Rifle
Kimber K6xs 38 Special Revolver
Colt Python 357 Mag Revolver
Glock 19x 9mm Auto Pistol
Smith and Wesson 686 357 mag Pistol
Weatherby Orion 20 gauge over under Shotgun
Bergara BMR 17 HMR Bolt Rifle
Henry Big Boy 44 Mag Lever Rifle
Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 Creedmoor Rifle
Bergara Ridge 22.250 Bolt Rifle
Join us in Corpus Christi for this exciting event!
Contact Fungicides for Control of Silvery Thread Moss
Wendell Hutchens, PhD Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Science, University of Arkansas
Last summer’s fungicide trials at the University of Arkansas yielded some fascinating results. We monitored performance of fungicides on brown patch, dollar spot, fairy ring, take-all root rot and many more diseases. However, beyond traditional disease-control trials, one of the most interesting fungicide trials we conducted last summer was examining the efficacy of multi-site, contact fungicides on silvery thread moss (Byrum argenteum) control. Who knew fungicides could be so flexible?
Silvery thread moss is one of the most problematic weed species on golf course putting greens. It thrives in wet areas (e.g., areas that are over-watered or do not drain well) and it negatively affects turfgrass quality and playability. Once it establishes, it can spread and outcompete desirable turfgrass, effectively choking out the turfgrass (Figure 1). This weed can cause major problems for golf course superintendents, yet control options are limited. The current industry standard herbicide for controlling silvery thread moss in putting greens is carfentrazone (QuickSilver, FMC Corp.). This protoporphyrinogen oxidase-inhibiting (what a mouth full!) herbicide is an industry standard for a reason it works. Although carfentrazone works well for controlling silvery thread moss, just like for any other weed species, sole reliance on a single chemistry for control is not advised. Therefore, additional control measures for silvery thread moss should be considered.
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Figure 1. Silvery thread moss choking out and outcompeting creeping bentgrass.
Research conducted in the late 1990s established that the multi-site, contact fungicide chlorothalonil could effectively control silvery thread moss in putting greens. There are four market-available contact fungicides in the turfgrass industry labeled for golf course putting greens: chlorothalonil, fluazinam, mancozeb, and thiram. Anecdotal evidence suggests that certain combinations of these chemistries are highly efficacious against silvery thread moss. Therefore, our goal was to characterize the efficacy of chlorothalonil (Daconil Weatherstik, Syngenta), fluazinam (Secure, Syngenta), mancozeb (Fore 80WP Rainshield, Corteva), and thiram (Spotrete F, NuFarm) in different combinations of their highest labeled rates against silvery thread moss infestations in creeping bentgrass putting greens at the University of Arkansas Turfgrass Research Farm in Fayetteville, AR (see Table 1 for treatment list). Each treatment was applied a total of three times at ~2-week intervals (7 Sep 2023, 25 Sep 2023, and 10 Oct 2023). Plots were visually assessed for percent silvery thread moss control twice per week throughout the study. Data shown below is from 11 Sep 2023 until 19 Oct 2023.
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The treatment differences in this study were stark (Figure 2). Quicksilver performed as expected providing excellent control of silvery thread moss. Interestingly, the combination of the fungicides Daconil Weatherstik + Fore 80WP Rainshield + Spotrete F provided similar silvery thread moss control to the herbicide Quicksilver. This suggests that applications of certain of multi-site, contact fungicide combinations could be an alternative approach, or at least a supplemental approach, to managing silvery thread moss beyond sole reliance on one herbicide. The only fungicide, when solely applied, that provided any level of silvery thread moss control was Daconil Weatherstik. However, there was a clear increase in silvery thread moss control as additional fungicides were included. For example, Daconil Weatherstik + Spotrete F provided greater silvery thread moss control than Daconil Weatherstik alone, and Daconil Weatherstik + Spotrete F + Fore 80WP Rainshield provided greater silvery thread moss control than Daconil Weatherstik + Spotrete F. The synergistic effect of various permutations of the four fungicides was consistent. However, one exception was when all four fungicides were sprayed together, they did not provide any additional silvery thread moss control compared to Daconil Weatherstik + Fore 80WP Rainshield + Spotrete F or Daconil Weatherstik + Secure + Spotrete F.
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Figure 2. Percent (%) silvery thread moss control of various treatments on creeping bentgrass putting greens in Fayetteville, AR in late-summer/early-fall of 2023.
This study highlights the flexibility of fungicides to go beyond traditional disease control. The study also demonstrates that traditional herbicides, such as Quicksilver, provide excellent silvery thread moss control, but there are alternative or supplemental management strategies for controlling this problematic weed on putting greens. Our study indicated that the following fungicide treatments provided very good control of silvery thread moss:
1. Daconil Weatherstik + Spotrete F + Fore 80WP Rainshield (shown in Figure 3)
Figure 3. Daconil Weatherstik + Spotrete F + Fore 80WP Rainshield controlling silvery thread moss on a creeping bentgrass putting green in Fayetteville, AR.
2. Daconil Weatherstik + Secure + Spotrete F
3. Daconil Weatherstik + Secure + Spotrete F + Fore 80WP Rainshield
Our data also showed that the two-way fungicide combination of Daconil Weatherstik + Spotrete F provided pretty good control of silvery thread moss as well. However, the three-way contact fungicide combinations that included Daconil Weatherstik were generally much better at controlling silvery thread moss.
I hope you found this article helpful. The Univ. of Arkansas Turf Team is always here to help!
Wendell Hutchens, PhD: wendellh@uark.edu
Mike Richardson, PhD: mricha@uark.edu
Hannah Wright Smith, PhD: hewright@uada.edu
December 17 18
CPTM Certification Program - Overview
The Certified Professional Turf Manager (CPTM) designation recognizes a level of achievement in professional turfgrass management inTexas beyond a Bachelor of Science degree or a long tenure in the industry.
The CPTM designation is a mark of distinction. Professionals who acquire the CPTM designation benefit the turfgrass industry and themselves through increased self-esteem and respect, increased value and service to their employer and increased competitiveness in the job market.
By acquiring the CPTM designation, the professional turf manager sets himself or herself apart from other turf managers.
For applicants to be considered for the CPTM designation and to maintain that designation they must provide documented evidence of turf management skills, participation in continuing education programs and successful employment in the turfgrass industry.
Applicants for the CPTM designation are also required to satisfactorily complete a comprehensive written examination. An intensive 4-day training program in preparation for the examination is optional.
Chandler Conroy Green Touch
Croix Sedillo
Alvin ISD
Kory Nickell
Harris County Flood Control District
Isiah Ivill City of Plano
Sod Solutions Celebrates 30 Years:
From Kitchen Table to Around the World
As Sod Solutions celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024, it’s essential to look at the key moments that have shaped the company, the people who have played pivotal roles in its success and the vision that has guided its growth throughout the past 30 years. What started as a company with one product and two employees has grown into a longstanding company within the turfgrass industry. Sod Solutions’ commitment to innovation, diversification and relationship-oriented business style has driven its remarkable success within the industry.
Tobey Wagner, President of Sod Solutions, started his journey into the turfgrass industry shortly after graduating from Auburn University in 1987. Following graduation, Tobey took a job at Martin Marietta Aerospace and moved with his wife, Lee Ann to Orlando, Florida. Taking after his father’s and grandfather’s interests, Tobey spent most of his time off work outdoors, gardening and tending to his backyard. Like most people in Florida at the time, his lawn was made up of Floratam St. Augustine, and he was having trouble caring for it. “I had a neighbor right up the street with one of those yards that was just a beautiful tropical paradise of palm trees, bananas and citrus fruits. He taught me a lot about general landscaping and I learned from him about the equipment and how to maintain the yard. That’s when I got interested in the caretaking of plants, which led to lawns and grass,” Tobey said.
Tobey’s fascination started to grow as he learned more about the emerging opportunities and developments that the turfgrass industry had to offer, propelling his interest forward and eventually changing the trajectory of his career path. Through his love of learning and meeting new people, Tobey formed many relationships with growers and other turfgrass professionals in Central Florida. “Tobey came home one day and said, ‘Grass for lawns is being sold as a commodity’ Lee Ann shared. “There’s an opportunity to sell it as a value-added product and get patent protection. That way, you manage the people who grow, get a higher quality product and put forward quality control guidelines. We could create a brand with enough added value to earn a royalty on that brand. We started to think about that idea and over time it developed until ultimately, we decided to try it.”
It took a little while for Tobey’s vision to grow into reality. From contacts in Florida, Tobey met a researcher at the University of Florida named Dr. Phil Busey. Dr. Busey taught Tobey a lot about patenting grass varieties and introduced him to a grass variety he was breeding called FX-10. At the time, this grass was only in Florida and was touted to revolutionize the industry with its drought and disease tolerance. Tobey proposed bringing FX-10 to the Southeast coast to see how it would grow outside of Florida and eventually sell it to growers in South Carolina.
The Wagners formed a strong business relationship with a farm in Central Florida called Kirkland Sod, run by Elmer Kirkland. Around the same time Tobey was working on spreading the word about FX-10, Kirkland came to him with another grass variety that he believed had improved characteristics that would help the grass “take off” outside Florida. After living and working in Florida for a few years, Tobey and Lee Ann relocated to South Carolina and eventually settled in Charleston. Tobey brought both grass samples back to South Carolina and tested them throughout the cold winter months. Kirkland’s grass was the one that survived the extreme winter cold of 1993. FX-10, “the grass which was supposed to take over the world”, froze out, died and is no longer on the market. To this day, Kirkland’s grass, which we now call Palmetto® St. Augustinegrass, is the most sold patented turfgrass in the world, with
over 3 billion square feet sold. It is sold across the United States and in multiple countries. Palmetto® St. Augustine was the first Sod Solutions product and remains an industry legacy product.
The early days of Sod Solutions looked a lot different than they look now. As the Wagners got to work on establishing Sod Solutions, they worked out of their kitchen and dining room while simultaneously starting and raising their family. They didn’t have the money to hire a big staff, so Tobey and Lee Ann did most of the work.
Tobey traveled a lot, focusing on building relationships in the marketplace with farms and landscapers. At the same time, Lee Ann anchored the business from home, working on administrative, accounting and communication matters, making sure everything was running smoothly on the back end. Lee Ann learned much about running a business from working for and watching her parents run their business. “As an entrepreneur, it brings a lot of flexibility to your life, but you also work very hard. You get to decide where you want to invest your time and money,” Lee Ann said.
Juggling parenthood and starting up a business can be difficult, but the Wagners overcame this challenge by integrating the values of family into their business matters from the very start. Business trips consisted of Turfgrass Producers International (TPI) conferences and trips to different farms, with their children tagging along. “Many farms we worked with were family businesses that were also raising children. So, it wasn’t unusual for Tobey to take the kids with him to the farms in the summer. We integrated it into our lives. We raised our family and did our work.
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It was very commingled but in a healthy way. Our family was very involved in our business from the beginning,” said Lee Ann.
As business and clientele grew, they started looking to bring on employees to help them out, one of whom still works for Sod Solutions today, Brenda Roberts. Tobey and Lee Ann approached Brenda at a school fundraising event shortly after the start of Sod Solutions, asking her to join their team, and she eagerly accepted the invitation. Brenda recalls Tobey going to Jennie Moore Elementary School, where both of their children attended school, and speaking to the classes about his trips to international sod farms, showing the students photos and samples of the signature grass, Palmetto.
With no marketing department or official employee titles, Brenda picked up any work that needed to be done, whether taking licensing agreements to get signed, organizing files or making phone calls. Brenda describes the Sod Solutions work environment at this time as quiet and relaxed, where she would come to the house, have breakfast in the kitchen with Lee Ann and then head into the dining room to get the workday started. Brenda is grateful for the family atmosphere Tobey and Lee Ann brought to their business. “I was able to do so much more with my kids and for my kids than I would have ever been able to do in any other job. If one of the kids was sick, or if there was a school field trip, I was given the ability and flexibility to be here for my kids and work too,” she said.
Very early on, Tobey was interested in diversification, and he saw that happening geographically. Most of what Sod Solutions was doing started in Florida, but after some consideration, Tobey decided to check out improved varieties in other parts of the world. Although expensive, Tobey began investing in international travel, looking at varieties in other countries that had succeeded. He arranged to bring them back here to license for the US market. The money and time spent on these international ventures paid off, as this is how Celebration® Bermudagrass and EMPIRE® Zoysia, the company’s two other legacy brands, found their way into Sod Solutions portfolio.
The story of EMPIRE Zoysia began with a simple yet transformative international email exchange between Tobey and an agronomist in Brazil named Roberto Gurgel. Through an advertisement in a TPI magazine, Roberto was introduced to Palmetto and became interested in growing it on the farm where he worked. During that time, the internet was starting to take the world by storm and the most common forms of communication were by email. So, Roberto reached out to Tobey to inquire more about Palmetto, and to his surprise, Tobey answered that very same day, saying, “Hey, it’s Tobey Wagner here! This is exciting because this is my very first international email exchange!” The two continued to communicate back and forth, eventually planning a trip for Tobey to visit Brazil and see the production going on there. Tobey spent 10 days in Brazil, visiting several farms and securing the contract for Palmetto.
But the Palmetto contract wasn’t the biggest blessing from Tobey’s trip to Brazil. During this time, Roberto was also researching and working towards developing a new grass variety. After showing Tobey this variety, which we now call EMPIRE, Tobey immediately liked it and knew it would succeed due to EMPIRE’s coarser-bladed look. Before they knew it, a contract was signed to have EMPIRE brought to the US, where over time, it became wildly successful, especially in Florida, Texas and across the greater Southeast. This deal started a solid international partnership and lifelong friendship between Roberto and Tobey. “I call that calculated risk by prayer,” said Tobey. “When I think about the trip to Brazil, I think about God putting me where he wanted me. At first, I thought I was wasting time and money, two things we didn’t have, mak-
ing that trip. I ended up bringing back one of the most successful products we’ve ever had and it continues to grow.”
Three years later, Tobey asked Roberto to join the Sod Solutions team as the Executive Director of Research to oversee producers in the Central Texas territory. Moving across the world was a big move for Roberto and his family. Now 21 years later, Roberto still works for Sod Solutions and remains an integral part of the company’s success.
Celebration Bermudagrass originated from Tobey’s desire to enter the sports and golf markets, which meant finding an improved bermudagrass over widely-used Tifway 419. After a business trip to Australia, Tobey was introduced to the Celebration variety by Rod Riley, turfgrass breeder and Keeper of the Greens for Australia’s national sport, Lawn Bowls. Celebration thrived on the Lawn Bowl courts, rapidly recovering from heavy wear and tear. Tobey acquired international licensing rights and eventually brought the grass back to the US, where Celebration continues to succeed decades later.
Tobey explains that what motivated him throughout the company’s significant growth years was seeing new places and meeting new people. His spirit for adventure and building relationships brought the company success not only across the country but also around the world. Sod Solutions continues to develop new and successful products, but to this day, Palmetto, EMPIRE and Celebration continue to perform.
After solidifying these initial three grass varieties, Tobey wanted to get more organized and bring more science behind the work Sod Solutions was doing. “Our commitment to innovation is one of our biggest growth factors,” said Chief Operating Officer Christian Broucqsault. “We are never satisfied with what we currently have. We’re always asking how we can be better. That’s what’s brought us down this research path. Otherwise, we would have just had three grasses and focused on those.” Through industry networks and relationships with several breeders and farms, programs were started in Florida, Texas and North Carolina, directly involving growers in targeted, grass-specific programs with university turfgrass breeders. The goal was to get the growers grasses with specific traits they needed in their geographic areas.
Tobey is confident that Sod Solutions has many products needed in the industry and said the company is focused on educating customers on what those products are.
Sod Solutions has advanced to multiple business units outside turfgrass licensing. “We built new businesses because of our commitment to innovation. We have a software technology division. We moved into online sales, which developed into our Lawnifi brand. We have Sod Home, which was born from our education process of helping homeowners. And Sod Solutions Professionals, which came from the desire to build deeper relationships with professional clients,” Christian said.
With Tobey and Lee Ann involving their family within the company from the very start, it wasn’t much of a surprise when their oldest, Drew Wagner and now Sod Solutions Chief Technology Officer, developed an interest in the family business. As Drew traveled with his dad to farms, he met producers and learned much about the industry and the sod-growing business early in his childhood. Drew graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and it didn’t take long for him to start contributing his ideas to his parents’ company.
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Drew’s first contribution started with Turf Logistics®, a software management tool to help aid Sod Farms with organizing orders, invoices, harvesting and deliveries. “I would go with Dad to see these producers, and it’d be a trailer or small building on the side of a farm. We would walk inside, and they would have a whiteboard or stacks of paper scattered over their desk. I would always think there must be a better way. You’ve got people that are running multimillion-dollar businesses with paper. There’s software for every other industry, and every other company digitizes its paperwork. So we saw this opportunity to create something to help with that,” Drew said.
Merging his knowledge of the turfgrass industry and software technology, Drew continued contributing ideas that have strengthened the company from within, including Sod Solutions’ new business unit, SatQuote. Drew’s ability to recognize needs within the turfgrass and landscaping industry inspired his idea to create this software to measure, design and quote landscaping work. Drew feels confident about where the company is now but is eager to find more ways to expand the business and promote success in the future. “Our team is always looking for new ways to leverage the expertise we have built across agronomy, technology, and marketing. What’s fun for me is finding unsolved problems, investing in solutions and seeing how our products and services help our customers. That’s what gets me up in the morning and gets me excited. We’ve got a group of people here who are passionate, share our vision and are really invested in our mission.”
Tobey and Lee Ann have other members of their family working for the business as well. Their son-in-law, Addison King, is the Chief Financial Officer and he works alongside Lee Ann with the financial department. Their son-in-law, Whit Jacobs, worked as Sod Solutions South East Territory Manager and is now working on new projects for Innowave, a new division of the company’s Software Technology business unit. “If you would’ve asked me 10-20 years ago if we would have so much family in this business, I would have told you no way! We’ve been very fortunate that our son, Drew, has always been interested in the business and our daughters have married just incredible men who are working for us. If you combine that with our leadership team in the company, all these people have made huge contributions to our team. Both family and non-family employees really matter to us. Over time, the non-family employees become more like family,” said Tobey.
Maintaining culture when you’re a growing company can be challenging. However, Tobey and Lee Ann have cultivated a company based on family values, even as they continue to grow. “We believe in a good, healthy work-life balance. Having a work environment that also allows you to have a healthy family life. With that in mind, we’re always including our family in the business, so there’s always been kind of an invitation to include our employees’ families,” Lee Ann said. She and Tobey feel that Sod Solutions employees are an extension of their own family, and their employees feel the same way.
Sod Solutions’ success isn’t just defined by its profitability but by the determination, unwavering passion and employees that Tobey and Lee Ann have behind their company. In this everevolving business landscape, Tobey and Lee Ann express that they are excited about this 30year milestone and are confident about the people they will leave the business to. “We feel very blessed to be where we are,” Tobey said. “We’re excited to celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2024 and I truly think the best is yet to come.”
This article was written by Elyse Kann, Sod Solutions 2023 Marketing Intern. To read it online, click here. Sod Solutions is celebrating 30 years of successfully developing and releasing turfgrasses with over 20 market-leading varieties like Palmetto® St. Augustine, Celebration®
and