Farm Progress: OSU-developed bermudagrass takes root

Dr. Wu & Dr. MartinOSU-developed bermudagrass takes root: Tahoma 31 is more cold-tolerant, drought-resistant than its predecessors

.An article in the March 2019 issue of Farm Progress magazine discusses the development of Tahoma 31.

Its name is derived from a Native American word that means “frozen water,” which is an apt description for the newest bermudagrass variety developed by Oklahoma State University’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

The variety OKC 1131, called by its trademarked name Tahoma 31, took more than a decade to develop and confirm its traits before being released and then licensed to Sod Production Services in Charles City, Va. The grass is more cold-tolerant and drought-resistant than its predecessors and adaptable to a wider range of environments

“It is a particularly good fit for athletic venues, continuing a trend as a number of our past releases have proven to be extremely popular with the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the Beijing Olympics and college sports fields,” said Yanqi Wu, OSU plant genetics professor and holder of the university’s Meibergen Family Professorship in Plant Breeding.

LOW WATER DEMAND

Tahoma 31 is an attractive dark green with a fine texture and a high turf density. The grass has a lower water demand during colder weather, a benefit to northern areas and late-year sports, and tends to green-up quicker in the spring.

“Improved cold tolerance is one of the major aspects our bermudagrass varieties are known for nationally,” Wu said. “Bermudagrass is a southern grass, traditionally susceptible to winter kill, but our varieties are allowing for its expansion into and use in more northerly climes.”

Bermudagrass is a popular turf choice not only as a sports grass but on lawns as well, thanks to its sod-forming growth habit, long-lived perennial nature, ability to rebound from heavy traffic and resistance to many environmental stresses such as heat and drought. It is also exceptionally tolerant to frequent low mowing.

“We didn’t get into bermudagrass development with the intention of specifically turning out high-end turf for major sports, the resulting products have just been what a number of professional and amateur organizations have needed, and people pay attention to that,” said Dennis Martin, OSU Cooperative Extension turfgrass specialist and a member of DASNR’s bermudagrass development team. “Start talking about golf courses and the list expands almost exponentially.”

FORE!

Martin and Wu said the golf connection is fitting, as it was a series of grants from the United States Golf Association beginning in 1986 and continuing through the 1990s and 2000s that really helped usher in the modern era of OSU bermudagrass development.

OSU professors Charles Taliaferro and Mike Kenna of DASNR’s department of agronomy were the principal investigators associated with the 1986 USGA grant, building upon national research and the work of Wayne Huffine, an OSU professor and researcher of forages and pastures from the 1950s into the 1980s. Huffine and his cohorts developed Oklawn centipede and played a major role in the development of Sunturf bermudagrass. OSU released Guymon in 1982, the first seed-propagated variety better adapted to more northern latitudes than bermudagrass produced in Arizona and California.

“Our successes today would not have happened without the work of Charles, Mike and Doug Breede, my predecessor at OSU,” Martin said, “not to mention the patience of DASNR administration through the years because none of this happened overnight.”

The 1990s were a time of trial and tribulation, with no final product to show for the efforts of the OSU Bermudagrass Development Team.

A CENTURY

“It takes about 10 years to work through necessary steps such as germplasm selection, hybridization and evaluation at the local, regional and national levels,” Wu said. “By the early 2000s we were releasing Yukon, Rivera and Patriot, and then in about 2010 we released Latitude 36 and NorthBridge.”

Part of what makes OSU’s bermudagrass development efforts unique is the size and multidisciplinary make-up of the research team.

“While people expect us to draw upon the expertise of researchers in the plant and soil sciences, our ultimate goal of giving industry and consumers a high-quality product has led us to draw upon DASNR resources in agricultural economics, horticulture, landscape architecture, entomology, plant pathology and more,” Wu said.

Martin added that while the sports connection is eye-opening, it is at the local level OSU-developed turfgrasses may be having the greatest benefit, as lawns in parks and other venues directly affect a significant number of people and the communities in which they live.

“We’ve also been adding to both basic and applied research that will lead to further advances and improved varieties,” he said. “In that way, OSU’s Bermudagrass Development Team is promoting continual advancement in products that increasingly better meet the demands of individuals and industry.”

OSU’s Bermudagrass Development Team operates under the auspices of the statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system, a state agency administered by DASNR and a key part of OSU’s state and federally mandated teaching, research and Extension land-grant mission.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Carolina Green
10108 Indian Trail Fairway Rd
Indian Trail, NC 28079
kprice@cgcfields.com
704-753-1707 ext 105

Inman Sod
19 Harris Plant Cir
Rutherfordton, NC 28139
jspears@inmanmills.com
864-680-3509

Carolina Turf Farms, Inc.
PO Box 850
Raeford, NC 28376
ncsodman@carolinaturffarms.com
910-875-6141

Chanshare Farms
10785 W 12800 N.
Tremonton, Utah 84337
www.chanshare.com
eric@chanshare.com
435-854-3627

Craft Turf Farms
10505 Co Rd 65
Foley, AL 36535
https://craftturffarms.com
david@craftturffarms.com

Grassmasters Sod Farms
2300 W 350
North Patoka, IN 47666
www.gmsod.com
pam@gmsod.com
812-779-5468

South Florida Grassing, Inc.
P.O. Box 725
Hobe Sound, FL 33475
https://www.southfloridagrassing.com
sfgrassing@yahoo.com

West Coast Turf
11803 E. McDonald Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
Danielle.Scardino@westcoastturf.com
888-893-8873

Riverside Turf
18161 Sandy Point Rd
Charles City, VA 23030
morgan@riversideturf.com
804-829-2608

Winstead Turf Farms Inc
22860 Hwy 196
Arlington, TN 38002
bobby@winsteadturffarms.com
901-491-5025

South Turf, (DBA New Life Turf)
7500 Savannah Hwy
Neeses, SC 29107
afogle@newlifeturf.com
acribb@newlifeturf.com
800-752-1035

Carolina Fresh Farms
7 locations in S.C. to serve you
www.carolinafreshfarms.com
800-675-7954

Riverview Sod Ranch
14616 E 146 St South
Leonard, OK 74043
riverviewsod@yahoo.com
918-232-5673

Sod by Sherry
7700 N Heaston Rd.
Calumet, OK 73014
sodbysherry@gmail.com
405-630-8710

JAPAN

Soil Maxx
Tokyo, Japan
msato@soilmaxx.com
81-80-3359-8747

VIETNAM

Outfield Nurseries
Ngoc Giang Hamlet, Vinh Ngoc Commune
Dong Anh, Hanoi Vietnam 100000
jason@outfieldasia.com
84-24-3514-8592

Tuckahoe Turf Farms
401 Myrtle Avenue
Hammonton, NJ 08037
keith@ttfarms.com
609-784-3704

Greenfield Turf
PO Box 138
Gordonville, MO 63752
Greenfieldturffarm@hotmail.com
573-450-4058

Keeven Bros Sod
602 Laura Hill Rd
St. Peters, MO 63376
Drewkeeven@keevenbrothers.com
636-544-9706

Keevenbrothers.com

Central Sod of Maryland
920 John Brown Rd
Centreville, MD 21617
team@centralsodmd.com
https://plantsod.com
410-827-5000

Grassmasters Sod Farms
2300 W 350
North Patoka, IN 47666
www.gmsod.com
pam@gmsod.com
812-779-5468

Hawaiian Turfgrass
94-840 Lanikuhana St.
Mililani, HI 96789
hawaiianturfgrass@gmail.com
808-371-0527

Legacy Turf Farms
850 Indian Mounds Rd
Cartersville, GA 30120
gary@legacyturffarms.com
https://legacyturffarms.com
770-607-0491

West Coast Turf
42-540 Melanie Place
Palm Desert, CA 92211
mel.williams@gmail.com
760-340-7300

Poinsett Turfgrass LLC
PO Box 48
Harrisburg, AR 72432
poinsett.co@gmail.com
870-761-0355

AUSTRALIA