What is the UMass Extension Turf Program?
The UMass Extension Turf Program is a research-based team of faculty and professional, technical, and support staff. As part of the UMass Extension within the UMass Center for Agriculture, Food & the Environment, we strive to address the highest priority needs of turf-related industries as well as the citizens of the Commonwealth.
Our mission is to develop, research, gather, and share knowledge on safe, efficient, economically viable and environmentally sound turf management with emphasis on natural resource protection.
We provide education to adult professionals through seminars, conferences, short courses, field days, publications, diagnostics, consultations and this web site. Educational programs include Winter School for Turf Managers and UMass Extension's Green School. Publications include the Professional Guide for IPM in Turf for Massachusetts, Protocols for an IPM System on Golf Courses, Integrated Pest Management Protocols for Turf on School Properties and Sports Fields and Best Management Practices for Lawn and Landscape Turf.
Our clients include: municipal turf and grounds managers; golf course superintendents and crew members; lawn care operators and personnel; landscapers and grounds managers; public and private facility athletic turf managers; sod producers; regulatory and environmental agency personnel; private consultants and educators; turf industry affiliated distributors and vendors; and community decision makers.
What does the UMass Center for Agriculture, Food & the Environment do?
The vision of the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food & the Environment is to create, disseminate and utilize knowledge for the benefit of the Commonwealth and its citizens, and to advance academic scholarship and the mission of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Center supports University faculty and staff in conducting programs of integrated research and educational outreach that span disciplines and impact agriculture, food systems, environmental well-being and human health. We provide educational services in areas in which we are uniquely qualified and serve as an honest broker for the exchange of knowledge between the university and the public.
The mission of the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food & the Environment is to coordinate the work of faculty and staff members in academic departments at UMass Amherst. We create programs of integrated research and educational outreach that address public priorities and concerns; our programs advance environmental quality, agricultural sustainability and the viability of food systems, from production to consumption. In addition, the Center provides focused educational services to targeted individuals and groups in ways that advance the Center’s vision and goals. The Center facilitates mutually beneficial exchange between citizens and the university and supports community access to academic resources.