LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has awarded the Hancock Turfgrass Research Center a certificate recognizing its environmentally friendly practices.

The award is a part of MDARD’s Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program (MTESP), a program that works in a similar way to MDARD’s Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program. In that voluntary program, farmers can be recognized for their efforts in one or more areas for environmental best practices, something that many farmers have sought and achieved.

“Hancock Turfgrass Research Center has gone above and beyond environmental compliance requirements to prevent pollution, protect water resources and conserve energy – all of which benefit the environment,” said Gary McDowell, MDARD director. “By implementing best management practices, and conducting energy audits, they are saving money, protecting natural resources and reducing their carbon footprint. MDARD is proud to be associated with this unique partnership among state agencies, Michigan State University (MSU) and industry stakeholders. As additional properties work to attain certification, it provides a solid foundation for success.”

To date, 182 properties statewide have begun participating in the MTESP, 47 have met the certification criteria, and 668 online course modules have been completed altogether.

As part of the certification process, a business or organization must complete 12 online course modules. The coursework is tied to real life activities, said Jesse Scholl, Hancock Turfgrass Research Center farm manager. Scholl gave an example of a best practice, where the research farm placed a concrete pad on the property for the placement of pesticide. Scholl said that since pesticide can penetrate concrete and could potentially leak into the ground, he applied an epoxy coating to the pad to seal it.

“A lot of the environmental stuff I do anyhow; it’s important to me to take the initiative to keep the environment safe, to keep people safe, and it’s good public relations, also,” Scholl said. “Hopefully this will also set an example for other places; we want to promote good stewardship of the land.” Scholl said all kinds of places are members of the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation, which funds the Hancock Turfgrass research farm. These include golf courses, sports arenas, sod farms, schools and other places where grass has to be managed.

The world-renowned Hancock facility consists of 56 acres of land, including eight acres of putting green turf as well as plots of a number of different varieties of grasses. Six MSU professors, along with their graduate students, are dedicated to doing research at the Hancock farm. “Whatever the goal of the research is, we assist in whatever way we can, for example, not watering the grass when they are doing a drought tolerance experiment,” Scholl said.

The Hancock Turfgrass Research Center is one of the oldest and best turfgrass research centers in the world, said Adam Ikamas, director of MTESP. Ikamas said although the MTESP and the state’s farm assurance program are similar, the turf program actually came first, because decades ago there was a lot of concern about how turf was being managed in the state from an environmental perspective. However, he said, in the intervening years a lot of the problems were solved. MTESP is only funded to the tune of $60,000 a year while the farm assurance program receives millions of dollars annually through mandated fertilizer and pesticide registration fees. MTESP can’t afford independent auditors to check on a turfgrass facility to make sure it is doing what it says it’s doing. Still, Ikamas said “it just doesn’t make sense for people to cheat their way to certification.” The award, which consisted of a plaque, was given out at this year’s Michigan Turfgrass Foundation annual field day in August. To find out more about the MTESP, visit www.mtesp.org.