William J. Johnston
Researching the Future of Turfgrass Management
Ever increasing costs and environmental concerns demand turfgrass cultivars and management techniques that reduce consumption of fuels, fertilizers, pesticides, and water as well as post harvest field burning. Dr. William J. Johnston has spent the past 25 years conducting turfgrass research to enable WSU Extension specialists to make the best turfgrass management recommendations for the region.
The fate of pesticides applied to golf courses is an increasing concern to the public, regulatory agencies, and golf course maintenance personnel. Since 1997, Johnston and his research team have worked to identify environmentally friendly, efficacious fungicides to control snow mold disease in the Pacific Northwest. This research has led to several new compounds now available to the turfgrass industry to control this major disease. Currently, Dr. Johnston is researching the efficacy of mesotrione-impregnated fertilizer for weed control and phytotoxicity to desirable turf species.
Approximately 75 percent of the U.S. Kentucky bluegrass seed is produced in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. The ban on field burning in Washington state is causing economic stress for grass seed producers. Working collaboratively with the USDA, Dr. Johnston has shown bluegrass yields are reduced by 27 percent when residue is removed simply by baling. Therefore, baling alone will not attain desirable seed yields.
Although cultivar development is a long-term process, excellent progress has been made toward the goal of developing high seed yielding, turf-type bluegrasses that do not require field burning. Dr. Johnston’s team has identified genetic variation for seed production and is in the process of developing germplasm for non-burn systems. At that time, on-farm testing will be done to determine seed yield without burning, while turfgrass quality will be evaluated in university trials.
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Contact Information
William J. Johnson, Ph.D.
Professor of Turfgrass Science
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Washington State University
PO Box 646420
Johnson Hall 213
Pullman, WA 99164-6420
Telephone: 509-335-3620
Fax: 509-335-8674
E-mail: wjohnston@wsu.edu
Dr. William J. Johnston grew up working on an 18-hole golf course owned by his family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. in Geology from Penn State University and worked as a geologist in Idaho and Montana.
After a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, he returned to his roots and earned a M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1980) from Auburn University in agronomy, specializing in turfgrass science. He joined the Washington State University faculty in 1980 and is a professor of crop science. His current research is focused on turfgrass snow mold disease control, evaluation of greens-type Poa annua, bentgrass pollen-mediated transgene flow, and nitrate and pesticide movement in golf greens. He is also evaluating bluegrass germplasm in order to develop a high-yielding, turf-type bluegrass that will not require post-harvest field burning. The research of he and his graduate students has lead to over 45 refereed publications and numerous national and international conference proceedings and presentations. His research has been supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Golf Association, Northwest Turfgrass Association, Washington State Department of Ecology, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, golf course superintendent groups, commodity commissions, and private industry.
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