January 31, 2006
AMES, Iowa — The Toro Co. today gave nearly $94,000 in equipment and cash to the Iowa State University Department of Horticulture.
The gift was announced in June 2005. Wendy Wintersteen, dean of the ISU College of Agriculture, took part in a presentation ceremony Jan. 31 during the Iowa Turfgrass Conference in Des Moines and expressed her thanks to Toro for the gift.
The gift includes nearly $59,000 worth of Toro equipment — two rotary mowers, a greens mower and a maintenance cart with a lift. New irrigation equipment also was a part of the gift. The new equipment will be used to maintain the department’s turfgrass research area at the ISU Horticulture Research Station northeast of Ames.
In addition, the gift included $35,000 in cash. The money will be used for irrigation internships and scholarships for turf students attending the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga., and the Sports Turf Managers Association national convention in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Iowa State has received research funding from Toro in the past, but this is the first grant from the Toro Giving Program, which supports educational programming and environmental preservation.
The Iowa State Department of Horticulture has 220 undergraduates, with about half of those in the turfgrass management option within the horticulture major. Iowa State has won the national Turf Bowl competition five of the last six years.