Executive Director’s Message

            Diana and I have made a couple of trips over the last month that have pointed out the drought situation.  Southeast Texas looks like Paradise compared to the other places we have visited. 

            We first went to the TPI Summer Convention and Field Day in Memphis, TN.  The crops along the Mississippi River don’t look anything like they should.  Especially the dryland crops.  In fact, all of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and most of Texas are under the grips of drought.  If you live in those areas and didn’t think water was an issue, you do now.

            Texas was well represented at the TPI meetings.  Arthur Milberger of Bay City has taken over the reins of President and Steve Brown of West Columbia is now on the board of directors.

            We also represented you at the Texas Nursery and Landscape Expo in San Antonio in August.  We visited with a lot of your customers.  There was a lot of interest in the SAWS project.  I went by the site and visited with Dr. Kurt Steinke who was there taking notes.

            The plots growing on four inches of soil were completely browned out.  On the native soils, however, the grasses are in relatively good shape.  This has been an extreme summer to conduct the test but good information should be forthcoming.  Halfway thought the 60-day drought, the bermudagrasses are not showing much stress.  The St. Augustine grasses are beginning to show stress and the zoysias are showing more.

            I visited with representatives of the Texas and American Irrigation Associations and they are very interested in the plots.  They will host a national meeting in San Antonio in November and plan to tour the plots.  We have very much in common with the irrigators.  They want to keep turfgrass in the plans for new construction.  As one told me, “If you aren’t laying grass, we aren’t installing irrigation systems.” 

            Labor is a big issue with the landscape folks as it is with us.  Ag organizations are not having much luck with the Texas Congressional delegation, all of whom want to build a wall at the border.  If you have any pull with your legislator, let them know we have to have labor for our industry.

            One booth at the Expo was dealing with H2A and H2B workers.  You may want to take another look at these programs.  I was told that there is a pilot program being conducted in Colorado that may go nationwide that will affect all employers.  As it is now, if you complete the I-9 form on employees, you are covered if some workers are found to be illegal.  Under the new program that is being piloted in Colorado, you will have to call a number to verify the social security numbers of your employees.

            Hope to see you at the field day in Dallas.