SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/306114
www.stma.org May 2014 | SportsTurf 11 and curative application programs that have traditionally served the home lawn market are often employed in the management of public sports fields and grounds due, in large part, to the fact that they can be readily integrated into the public bid process. Contractor-submitted bids are typically based on a scheduled application of fertilizer and pesticide products on a specified date (or range of dates), to a known acreage, and at label-derived rates. Realistically, calendar-based contracted programs may be the only avenue in which fertilizers and pesticides are ever applied to sports fields and grounds in a public setting. However, the environmental suitability of these applications is often called into question as one- size-fits all protocols can result in pesticide and fertilizer applications that are poorly timed and/or unnecessary. Integrated Pest ManageMent (IPM) While numerous definitions have been authored to describe IPM, no conventional definition addresses fertilizer selection nor entails the elimination of synthetic pesticide use. The following is a definition developed by the Rutgers Pest Management Office: As a long-term approach to maintaining healthy landscapes and facilities that reduces the risk to people and the environment, instead of routine chemi- cal applications, IPM employs site assessment and monitoring, and pest management tactics that include horticultural, mechanical, physical, and biological controls and selective use of pesticides when needed to keep pests within acceptable limits. Site assessment and setting pest thresholds (i.e. acceptable limits) are IPM principles that can be used to reduce the quantity of pesticides applied to sports fields and grounds. Town properties and school district sports fields and grounds can be subdivided into zones (e.g. A, B, and C) based on turf function and aesthetic priority. Pest threshold levels can then be established for individual zones. For example, a school district may classify certain sports fields and lawns as Zone A turf locations on the basis that they have the highest expectations for function (playing surface quality) and aesthetics; thus, these locations have the lowest threshold level for weeds, diseases, and insect pests. Examples of Zone A turf areas may include varsity sports and practice fields used by high school athletes and high profile lawn and grounds locations. Zone B sports fields and grounds may include turf locations where stakeholders have a moderate expectation level for playing surface and aesthetic quality such as sports fields used by middle school athletes, passive recreation areas, and lower visibility lawns. A greater level of weeds, diseases, and insect activity can be tolerated given the less intense recreational activity, younger age of athletes, and/or lower aesthetic importance. Sports fields and grounds designated as Zone C can be determined to have the greatest threshold for pest activity and may include sports fields used by elementary school students, 'alternate fields' that are always open to users when high value fields are closed, and turf loca- tions where soil stabilization (no wind or soil erosion) is the primary function of these grounds. ManageMent wIthout synthetIc PestIcIdes Laws essentially prohibiting the use of synthetic pesticides on school sports fields have been implemented in the State of New York (playgrounds, turf, athletic or playing fields at day care centers and schools [kindergarten through grade 12]) and Connecticut (grounds Left: As part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan, middle school sports fields may be deemed to have a higher threshold level for broadleaf weed populations com- pared to high school varsity fields. right: Failure to develop any pest management plan resulted in nearly complete white grub damage of this municipal baseball outfield during late September.