Plant Management Network (PMN) notified STMA that it is discontinuing operating its Applied Turfgrass Science (ATS) on-line publication as of Jan. 1. ATS will become part of the Tri-Societies Digital Library (DL) subscription, which includes Crop Science, Agronomy Journal, and the Journal of Environmental Quality, plus more than a dozen other resources. For the two years that PMN was a member benefit, STMA paid an annual fee of several thousand dollars to PMN for an institutional subscription for its entire membership. The cost to purchase an institutional subscription for our membership to the DL is $12,000 annually.
After much discussion at the Fall Board meeting and reviewing research on the usage of PMN by STMA members (35.1% do not use PMN) your board determined that the increased cost did not provide corresponding value. Your board will continue to monitor opportunities to bring back this subscription and/or add other resources to its member benefits.
Take advantage of the subscription now before it stops. Don’t forget that you have a full subscription to Michigan State’s Turfgrass Information File as part of your membership benefits, which can be accessed after you log in to www.STMA.org.