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34 SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2015 Edzard van Santen an Auburn University pro- fessor in the College of Agriculture says theyre breeding bentgrass for the southern transition zone. And to the east turfgrass scientists at the University of Georgia are working on Zoysias for sports fields and Paspalum for watering issues. Turfgrass managers have to battle many stress- ors such as cold and heat. Working to make turf withstand cold drought and heat tolerance is key whether that is spring dead spot in Bermudagrass or brown patch in turf-style fall fescues. When it comes to the weather Brilman says things have gotten more and more unpredictable. Van Santen adds that its not so much climactic instability that turfgrass managers need to be wary of but what New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls global climactic weirdness. The effects of the weirdness depend on loca- tion and factors such as precipitation he explains. Throw in oscillation patterns such as El Nino Southern Oscillation and you have a real mess. During the past 20 years van Santen says a few patterns have emerged. When I started at Auburn you hardly ever saw Argentine bahiagrass a forage species in northern Alabama whereas today it is frequently observed he says. Thus warm season grasses are used much farther north than 20 years ago. We have warm season sports turf as far north as West Lafayette Ind. Changing weather patterns have also expanded the growing season in many regions which changes pest pressures. As an example van Santen says fall armyworms appear earlier nowadays and sometimes a month earlier than in the past. This affects other turf management options such as the application of pre-emergence herbicides he says noting that disease and pest resistance are paramount. According to van Santen and his colleagues Dave Han Extension turf specialist and associate professor and Elisabeth Guertal turfgrass and nutrient management professor its difficult and getting harder to manage the growing tide of emerging pests and diseases. Resistance and new pesticides are contributing factors and while industry is creating new com- pounds and formulations to combat these prob- lems the process is long and arduous. Brilman agrees We are always looking at dis- ease resistance. Management Matters But as pest pressures increase so does the need to use fewer inputs such as insecticides and herbicides. We want turf that can survive with less water herbicides and fungicides in general a turf that can survive with fewer inputs Brilman says. This breeder block allows DLF Pickseed researchers to evaluate the yield potential of tall fescue. PHOTODLFPICKSEED.PHOTOSEEDRESEARCHOFOREGON. Leah Brilman serves as director of research and technical services for Seed Research of Oregon where she works to produce grasses that can survive with less water and are highly disease resistant.