Turf Managers Are Doing More With Less Nutrients
According to Results of the Global Soil Survey
94. 39. 50. 88. 96. No, these are not this week’s winning lottery numbers. Instead, they represent a much better bet.
The numbers are the percentage of Global Soil Survey participants whose potassium (94%), phosphorus (39%), calcium (50%), magnesium (88%) and sulfur (96%) inputs fall significantly below the levels proposed in conventional soil nutrient guidelines for turf. The Survey shows they saved money and increased environmental sustainability at the same time they produced good quality turf.
Celebrating its first anniversary, the Global Soil Survey for Sustainable Turf is a collaboration among turf managers and researchers whose goal is to refine nutrient guidelines so that turf managers can supply turf with precisely the nutrients that the turf needs – no more and no less. To accomplish that goal, turf managers from around the world joined the Survey and collected soil samples from areas with good performing turf and submitted them for analysis. The results were evaluated by scientists at the Asian Turfgrass Center and PACE Turf, who compared them against both conventional soil guidelines, as well as against the newly developed Minimum Levels for Sustainable Nutrition (MLSN) guidelines.
“The first year of results from the Global Soil Survey (GSS) have broken new ground,” said Dr. Larry Stowell of PACE Turf, one of the Survey’s founding organizations. “The data shows that good performing turf can be produced at nutrient levels much lower than conventional guidelines suggest.”
Stowell said the Survey’s data have been added to the database of thousands of soil samples that were used to create the MLSN guidelines. The Survey’s annual report, as well as the new and improved guidelines, are now publicly available at
Dr. Micah Woods of the Asian Turfgrass Center, the other founding institution of the Survey, said, “The addition of the Global Soil Survey data to the large database that derives MLSN makes us even more confident that the MLSN guidelines are robust and can be used successfully under a wide variety of conditions. We are also very proud that the Survey is an Open Science project. In other words, we don’t only share the charts, tables and reports with the public, but we also share the underlying data analysis scripts and code involved. This allows anyone who is interested to check out what we have done, how we have done it, or to even to use the data for their own purposes.”
According to Drs. Woods and Stowell, the Global Soil Survey will continue to run for at least another year. Dr. Stowell said, “Our current conclusions are based on almost 4,000 soil samples from good performing turf, but we hope to increase the number of samples even more with the help of additional Global Soil Survey participants. We will constantly improve the MLSN guidelines based on the data we receive.”
The Global Soil Survey will continue soliciting turf manager participants for the foreseeable future. Soil survey participants receive a kit that contains all of the materials needed to package and ship three soil samples from good performing areas of their facility. The samples will be analyzed by Brookside Laboratories, and the data will be interpreted by Drs. Woods and Stowell. Dr. Woods said, “Each person receives a full report on their results, as well as an analysis of where each of their nutrients falls on the sustainability index. Turf managers have found the index to be really useful, because it gives them a numerical way to monitor where they are now and to track how they are improving over time.”
For more information on the Global Soil Survey for Sustainable Turf or to order the $250 Global Survey Kit, visit the Global Soil Survey webpage at Updates on Global Soil Survey results will be posted periodically at
The Asian Turfgrass Center works with turf facilities throughout Asia to provide expert and unbiased advice on how to best obtain desired turfgrass conditions. Its website at contains turf news and agronomic and research information that is used by turf managers around the world.
PACE Turf is a membership organization that provides breaking research news, information and expert advice on its website The mission of PACE Turf is to generate and share independent and objective agronomic information for turf professionals, so they may develop management programs that are effective, practical and scientifically sound.
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Media Contact:
Felicia Gillham
Gillham & Associates Marketing Communications
619-482-8820; Fax: 619-482-8825; Cell: 619-341-3054
Note: A logo for the Global Soil Survey for Sustainable Turf is available in the newsroom at (