Gone are the days when businesses can be run (successfully) with Post-It notes on the dashboard of a pickup truck. While the lawn care business may lag behind other industries in the adoption of business software and technology, the increasing array of powerful tools on the market has brought many former Post-It note users into the computer world. (continue)

With the lingering recession and slashed budgets, superintendents are looking to cut their capital spending while still offering the highest quality product for golfers. Bunker liners are one area where greenkeepers can’t afford to skimp; they need to take a long-term view. Bunker maintenance is costly, but liners will help reduce the amount of labor required to maintain these hazards. (continue)

Water is an increasingly valuable resource closely watched by the public and restricted by governmental agencies. Budget cuts further impact water issues. We talked to three facilities facing water challenges to learn more about their water conservation strategies. (continue)

Production tree climbing is a diverse, eclectic activity involving numerous skills, activities and nuances. No matter the method of entry, line installation, size of tree, type of work or vagaries of weather, clientele or client, the basic act of stepping up to a tree and attaching yourself to the climbing system happens every time.(continue)

Pavers have been around for millenia. The Minoans, who flourished around 2700 to 1450 B.C., are said to have had cities that were connected with stone-paved roads, formed from blocks cut with bronze saws. A story at www.pbs.org states that Palaikastro, a Minoan town located on eastern Crete, had paved roads that “were laid out in a carefully executed grid pattern.” (continue)

When Jeanne Dietz-Brand decided to raise meat goats, she started with the breed that has been steadily gaining popularity among both small and large producers: Boers and Boer crosses. However, as she worked with her herd, she found that they required more attention than she had expected. After learning about Kiko goats, she purchased a young Kiko buck. He convinced her that she had made a good choice.(continue)

Technology allows us to instantly track our stock portfolio, our favorite sports teams—and, it turns out, even the food we eat. While tracking finances or football standings can be informative and entertaining, tracking food is a far more important matter. That’s why the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) was started back in 2006, and why leaders in the industry are pushing to have a comprehensive traceability system in place by 2012. (continue)

The only good thing about being at the bottom is that there’s nowhere to go but up. Assuming that the forest products industry—hit as hard as any industry in the recent economic downturn—has indeed reached the bottom, then there’s hope for improvement. (continue)