Oregon the beautiful

If you´ve never been to Oregon, you should come to visit in mid-June. The Willamette Valley in June is truly beautiful -- and not just to grass breeders who like to see field after field of creeping bentgrass. The sky is blue, the sun is shining (most of the time), flowers are abundant, and the breezes are gentle. It is a privilege to be  here at this time of year.

Once again, the morning was all about education. Mike Hills from the Arizona office provided updates on improved tall fescues and Helen Lucas, also from Arizona, gave us the latest information on warm-season grasses, including buffalograss and seeded seashore paspalum. Leah Brilman, Ph.D.,  contributed her take on bluegrasses for heat and drought, particularly the Texas hybrids.

A newcomer to the meeting, Zac Reicher, Ph.D., from Purdue University explained how to prevent and control Poa trivialis (you´ll have to wait for the research article in GCM to read the answers in detail) and spoke about the uses and pros and cons of some of the new chemistries such as Certainty, Velocity and Tenacity. Hint: You may have more Poa trivialis than you think.

After a quick tour to see the cleaning and bagging machinery at the SRO facility, we all hopped on the bus and headed out for an afternoon of golf (for some) and wine-tasting (for others). Tomorrow we will be back on the bus exploring the grass fields between Corvallis and the Portland airport. To be continued . . .