July 5, 2013

      The National Turfgrass Federation is now partnering with the U.S. National Arboretum in developing an initiative exploring turfgrass and the turfgrass industry. The initiative, entitled 'Grass Roots', will run for four years and features an outdoor turfgrass exhibit, as well as programs, symposia, demonstrations, workshops and so much more. The industry's help is requested to raise the $400,000 required to construct the turf exhibit, develop Grass Roots , as well as hire a full-time Coordinator. Information on Grass Roots can be found on the left side of our main page.

November 13 , 2008
     The National Turfgrass Federation (NTF) Board of Directors met October 29-30 to discuss several issues of importance to the turfgrass industry. NTF Board members met with Congressional staff and Administration officials to discuss turfgrass research needs, the Specialty Crops Research Initiative and the National Turfgrass Research Initiative, and a national turfgrass survey. Other topics of discussions included funding for research and the EPA’s WaterSense program. The NTF Board also held its semi-annual meeting to discuss the organization, its plans for 2009 and funding for future efforts. Click here for a summary of the meetings.

October 29, 2007
     The National Turfgrass Federation Board of Directors met recently with the Secretary of Agriculture and as well as Congressional staff. NTF is
requesting that the National Turfgrass Research Initiative be included in
the 2007 Farm Bill. Also, a new 501 c(6) non-profit corporation has been
formed to coordinate federal research funding and oversight. This new
organization has been named National Turfgrass Federation, Inc. and is now
legally separate from the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program, Inc.
Press release

August 2 , 2007
     For Fiscal Year 2008, the turfgrass industry is requesting $4.1 million in funding for turf research. This funding is for research on water quality, water use efficiency, basic genetics and soil management. See the House and Senate statements below.
U.S. House of Representatives statement
U.S. Senate statement

The turf industry is also requesting that turfgrass be included in the research section of the 2007 Farm Bill as a specialty crop. This inclusion would make turfgrass available for specialty crops research funding.

October 3, 2006
     For the second year in a row, turfgrass leaders met with the various government officials, including Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, to discuss the turfgrass industry and the Turfgrass Research Initiative. Click on the links below for more information.
Press release
Turfgrass industry info given to the Sec of Ag.
FY07 Turf research funding House and Senate Ag. Bills

July 26 , 2006
     For the first time, the President's budget, submitted to Congress in February, includes new research funding for turfgrass. The President has proposed funding for "Drought mitigation" research on turfgrass at Phoenix, AZ and Riverside, CA. Click on the following links to see what the turfgrass industry is requesting for Fiscal Year 2007.
Statement for U.S. House of Representatives
Statement for U.S. Senate

May 4, 2005
     For Fiscal year 2006 (FY06), the turfgrass industry has again requested $5.4 million funding for the first phase of the Turfgrass Research Initiative. This funding will be used to create twelve research positions at nine locations. Click here for Map of Turfgrass regions and Priority Research Positions and Priority Research Position Descriptions.

   Following are the official House and Senate statements requesting the funding for FY06.
Statement for U.S. House of Representatives
Statement for U.S. Senate

December 16, 2004
With the signing of the new federal budget, turfgrass research within the National Turfgrass Research Initiative is increased by $275,000. See our press release for more information.

June 25, 2004
On June 3, 2004 the turfgrass industry entered into a historic agreement with the USDA-ARS. For more details, see MOU News for NTF web site

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