When March rolled around, Mitch Hooten, head groundskeeper of Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, Mich., was anticipating the start of the minor league season for the West Michigan Whitecaps. The infield was shaping up and the water for irrigation was about to be turned on. But then, on March 12, Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball announced a... read more
FMC Professional Solutions is accelerating the issue of rebate checks to end users enrolled in the FMC True Champions program. Lawn care companies and golf course end users who earned a rebate for participating in the 2019 FMC True Champions Program and/or the FMC 2019 Early Order Program will now receive their full rebate checks by May 30. These checks were... read more
Michigan State University Extension has offered some guidance on reduced or minimal maintenance on athletic fields due to COVID-19. “We are all clearly in unprecedented times as this is the time of year when turf management is usually busy with activity preparing turf for the coming season,” said Kevin Frank, a turfgrass specialist with Michigan State University Extension. “Stay safe, we’ll... read more
John Deere, in collaboration with the UAW, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, is producing protective face shields at John Deere Seeding Group in Moline, Ill. Deere employees will initially produce 25,000 face shields to meet the immediate needs of health care workers in several of its U.S. manufacturing communities. Materials and supplies are ordered... read more
The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) has offered resources for responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to its members. These COVID-19 response recommendations include information on what members around the country are doing to keep their facilities safer, including: Key considerations, given the nonremote nature of groundskeeping; Recommendations from grounds managers at public and private universities and K-12 schools on how... read more
