# Binghamton team to study short drought effects on lawns

> USDA awarded $298,476 to expand Binghamton University’s ongoing lawn research site. The project studies water stress in turf plots with different plant mixtures, not food crops.

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- Section: Agriculture
- Country: United States
- Published: 2026-10-15T23:21:06+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-15T23:21:06+00:00
- Source review period: 2026-10-13
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Amy Churchill, an ecosystem science researcher at Binghamton University, received a $298,476 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to study how short-term drought affects lawn performance from year to year. The October 13 announcement says the funding will maintain the PLEDGE outdoor research site in New York and allow researchers to experimentally vary water availability.

PLEDGE has 30 plots containing one to three species among tall fescue, white clover and creeping thyme. Researchers will quantify variation within plots in the first year and study drought effects in the second. This is turf and urban-ecosystem research; it reports no drought-tolerance result yet and makes no recommendation for food crops.

## Data

### USDA research grant

The grant supports PLEDGE research on how lawn plots respond to different water conditions.

Methodology: The source reports a $298,476 USDA grant and a two-year design; it does not yet report drought-effect results.

| date | label | description | status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 | Research grant announcement | USDA awarded Binghamton researchers $298,476 to expand lawn-drought research. | occurred |

Sources: <https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6519/new-research-project-to-explore-the-impact-of-short-term-drought-on-lawns> · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/binghamton-usda-short-drought-lawn-research-2026/data/usda-research-award?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/binghamton-usda-short-drought-lawn-research-2026/data/usda-research-award?lang=en&format=csv)

## Sources

- [Binghamton University, State University of New York](<https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6519/new-research-project-to-explore-the-impact-of-short-term-drought-on-lawns>) (Source checked: 2026-10-15; Published: 2026-10-13)

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