ponsored Research You Can Use The National Turfgrass

A new initiative spearheaded by industry leaders offers hope for basic turfgrass research. BY KEVIN MORRIS e annual value of the turfgrass industry in the United States is estimated at $40 to 60 billion.2•3 It is estimated that turfgrass covers 50 million acres in the U.S., making turf the fourth largest U.S. crop in acreage. According to estimates, there are more than 31 million acres of irrigated turf-grass in the U.S.,4 making turfgrass the largest irrigated U.S. crop. TURFGRASS RESEARCH INTHE U.S. Turfgrass research in the U.S. isalmost exclusively conducted by state univer-sitiesor private, for-profit companies. Private companies conduct research on fertilizers,new grass cultivars,pest con-trol products, etc.for their own internal use in research, development, and marketing. However, the information obtained from for-profit companies' research isproprietary and most often not released to the public. There are several non-profit organi-zations, such as the United States Gol