Old Man Winter Decends on Midwest

Not much going on in the Midwest last week or this week. Temperatures are 20 to 30 F below normal and we actually had appreciable snow this past weekend!! I have to apologize for not posting last week, I was traveling to North Carolina and did not have a chance to write my post. This week will be a short post too. Not much going on with respect to diseases in the Midwest, too dang cold!

The only good day the last couple of weeks was last Monday. We had the Wisconsin Turfgrass Association Golf Outing at North Shore Country Club in Mequon, WI. The weather was fantastic and considering the economy we had a nice turnout. I believe we had 84 participants, which included myself. The proceeds from the outing go to support the Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Research Fellowships. We have four fellowships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison- Robert Newman (Horticulture), Wayne Kussow (Soils), Jack and Flora Berbee (Plant Pathology, and the Kurth (rotating). For a state with only 5.5 million people we have a fantastic industry!

Sorry if this sounds boastful, but after last week I felt the urge to talk about our industry. Next week I plan to start a series of posts detailing the different winter diseases. The first three posts will be detailed descriptions on the three major winter diseases-gray snow mold, Microdochium patch, and snow scald.

On a final note, I would like to Congratulate Frank Wong and his wife Caroline! I wish you guys all the best!