An overhead view of NTEP trial plots in Oregon.
Grass Seed Trials Provide A Tool For Turf Professionals
Posted in General by Curtis Williams
Virtually everyone who deals with turfgrass has heard of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP), but the role they play, and the limitations of their trial data in the real world of maintaining golf courses and sports field is frequently less understood.
NTEP develops and coordinates evaluation trials of turfgrass varieties, coordinating with a wide range of organizations, including universities, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), Turfgrass Producers International, the U.S. Golf Association and the American Seed Trade Association.
The trials are conducted at dozens of locations across the U.S and Canada, allowing seed companies and their customers to get a more complete view of the adaptability of a given cultivar to geography, climate and maintenance protocol.
Trials evaluate cultivars for a wide spectrum of performance criteria, including quality, color, disease and drought resistance, establishment, vigor and much more. The data from each trial is then reported with scores for each tested criteria … higher numbered scores on a particular trail equate to “better.”
The quantitative comparisons between different grass seeds in NTEP trials provides buyers (and distributors) with valuable information to base decisions, and along with data from the Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance (TWCA), both property owners and the environment have benefited from information on water-saving turfgrass.
There are, however, limitations to the data. While a particular cultivar may score well in NTEP trials, the data does not indicate market factors, such as availability, the cleanliness of the seed stock, whether it will work well in a blend, or whether there is high enough of a demand to entice growers to commit acreage to the seed stock.
And, while new cultivars are trialed, seed products that have been available for years and underwent trials in past years are not compared – even though they may prove superior in head-to-head trials with newer seed products.
This limitation is due to the cost of trials. A seed producer may spend upwards of $50,000 or more in testing and trials before a new seed is brought to market. Each new seed you see is the result of considerable investment, and NTEP trials are a significant portion of the expenses.
The trial data NTEP provides producers, growers, distributors and end users has earned its reputation for reliability. However, NTEP data is just one tool available to turf professionals. Be mindful of the limitations of this information when making comparisons and decisions, and look to your agronomists and distributors for a full picture of what will work best in your location, climate and soil conditions.