The National Turfgrass Federation (NTF) held its lobby day May 22 in Washington, D.C., to push for greater federal funding for turfgrass research programs. GCSAA’s Mark Johnson, associate director of environmental programs, and Bob Helland, director of congressional and federal affairs, participated alongside individuals from Turfgrass Producers International, USGA, NTF and the University of Georgia. They met with representatives of the USDA, including Secretary Sonny Perdue, and several senators and representatives to talk about the importance of the funding turf research through such legislation as the multi-year Farm Bill and the annual Agriculture Appropriations Bill. 

Turf research supporters were able to talk directly with Perdue about turfgrass covering approximately 60 million acres in the U.S., including 2 million acres on our nation’s golf courses. This makes it the largest horticulture crop, and the third largest crop overall, with an estimated annual value of more than $60 billion. Home lawns and landscapes comprise 65-70 percent of turfgrass acreage, with roadsides, parks, sports fields, golf courses, cemeteries, airports and sod/seed production comprising most of the remaining acreage. Approximately 1 million people in the U.S. are employed in turfgrass-related industries. This includes commercial and residential lawn care, golf course and sports field management, roadside maintenance, public parks and product sales and service.

Despite its coverage, and economic and environmental importance, a small percentage of federal research dollars is dedicated to the turfgrass industry. As demands increase for green landscapes and responsible environmental stewardship, basic and applied research is needed to address these needs. This includes a better understanding of turfgrass genetics, and how to utilize this genetic information to produce turfgrass varieties with heat, drought, salt, disease and traffic tolerance.

On National Golf Day in April, attendees echoed the message regarding the importance of federal turfgrass research funding.Specifically, attendees asked Congress to recognize the importance of the National Turfgrass Research Initiative (NTRI) and prioritize future turfgrass research funds.There is language included in the House base text of the 2018 Farm Bill that does this.The Farm Bill funding will support research that encourages discovery of solutions in areas ranging from drought and water conservation to soil erosion mitigation and enhancing commercial, recreational and residential spaces.

GCSAA, on its own, has been lobbying in support of the 2018 Farm Bill and has specifically reached out to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders offering its support for the inclusion of language in the Senate 2018 Farm Bill that sets as a high priority for funding the NTRI.  Helland and Johnson reiterated GCSAA’s support for the Farm Bill language as part of the NTF lobbying day and offered their support for appropriations funding in the Fiscal Year 19 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that would help implement turf research at the USDA. 

Read a letter to Senate leadership from GCSAA’s CEO Rhett Evans.

GCSAA will continue to work with leading turf research supporters across the country to make sure the NTFI and the work of the NTF is as visible as possible.