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
10 SportsTurf | May 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com Field Science | By Brad Park T here is increased interest in turfgrass man- agement strategies that are intended to reduce or eliminate synthetic pesticides and, in some cases, synthetic fertilizers. Consumers' desire for organic food and its perceived benefits has translated into a growing demand for turf products and contracted services described as 'organic' or 'synthetic pesticide free'. While the mischaracterization of a turfgrass manage- ment program may be entirely unintentional, marketing non-organic products or services as organic has numerous consequences, most obvious the customer not receiving what is being sold. In some cases, where synthetic pesticide free programs or organic management have been deemed 'successful,' these successes have served as a rationale to legislatively prohibit synthetic pesticide use. These 'success- ful' programs may have, in actuality, incorporated synthetic fertilizer and synthetic pesticide applications at some recent juncture, requiring a more accurate description of the pro- grams, albeit a description less marketable than 'organic.' The objective of this article is to describe the follow- ing turfgrass management philosophies to better enable sports fields and grounds managers to sort-out common terminology used in the marketplace today: calendar- based preventative and curative applications; Integrated Pest Management (IPM); management without synthetic pesticides; and organic management. For the purpose of clarity in this article, the term 'syn- thetic pesticide' includes products that meet each of the following criteria: 1) The product has a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pesticide reg- istration number; and 2) The product is not approved for organic production per United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) or Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) guidelines. Calendar-based prevenTaTive & CuraTive appliCaTions Schools and municipalities are contracting-out pes- ticide and fertilizer applications at a more frequent rate. The lack of trained and licensed personnel, limited avail- ability of application equipment, and other issues related to product storage have created a strong demand for contracted applications. Calendar-based preventative Calendar-based preventative and curative applications can provide very good turf quality; however, the lack of site specificity can result in poorly timed and/or unnecessary fertilizer and pesti- cide applications. Organic managemenT and other systems employed in maintaining turfgrass