Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

tasks that should be carried out
within an IPM programme. The
first four stages need a scout to
carry out the process. The scout
must be given enough time to
cover all the turf areas. They also
need to be competent, dependable
and committed. The longer they
carry out this role the more
experienced they shall become
with pest’s life cycles and the
thresholds the surface can
withstand. The scouts must
understand when the damage is
likely to occur, the most
susceptible stage of the life cycle
for control, and how much pest
activity can be tolerated before
action must be taken.
Other employees at the club can
take on the responsibilities of the
scout’s role when they are carrying
out the day to day operations,
such as mowing or switching, and
then report back to the scout.
Therefore, it is essential that the
Grounds Manager or Head
Greenkeeper keeps all their staff
up to date with training to gain the
knowledge needed to carry out
scouting programme. Once a scout
has been selected they have to
decide on the methods to be used
to identify the different pests.
Traps, like the cup trap above,
can be used to trap insects to
check on population. However,
often the best way is to dig down
and visually inspect the number of
insects. It is important to have an
understanding of the life cycle of
the insect as this, along with the
time of year, can affect the
amount present.
For diseases, the turf should be
studied for irregularities and
differences in colour. These should
then be examined for signs and
symptoms of diseases. Lesions on
the leaves and the presence of
mycelia and other fungal growth
should also be searched for.
Diseases on leaves may have to be
collected and sent for laboratory
examination if it is unidentifiable
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(Grant and Ferrentino, 2006).
Weeds are easiest to be
monitored, as this can be done
visually. All results need to be
recorded at the time of
observation. Field data sheets can
be used.
It is recommended that scouts
should record weather conditions
such as soil and air temperatures,
soil moisture, relative humidity,
and leaf wetness. Measuring these
weather parameters, and
correlating them to disease
development, could produce
indicators to disease and insect
activity (Menzies et al, 1994).
After the monitoring has been
concluded, the scout will produce
a report recording the site location
and the sampling results, including
ranking infestation. The report can
then be correlated to the
thresholds set at the start of the
IPM system to determine what
action is going to be chosen. This
could be as simple as rising the
height of cut for a couple of weeks
to allow the plant to gain full
health.
Regular scouting is essential, as
it can provide information on
changes in pest population and
turf grass health. Ideally, all the
turf should be monitored at least
once a week, however, time does
not often allow this, so highly
susceptible and high priority areas
can be used as indicators.
New European Union legislation
encourages IPM systems. The
ongoing decrease in pesticides
available on the market, as well as
training and sprayer inspections,
means that IPM systems may
have to be the way forward in the
sports turf industry (Darlington,
2009).
IPM is a method that
encourages best management
practices rather than turning to
pesticides all the time. However
the key to IPM is the ongoing
scouting of the turf, the setting of
the thresholds and acting on the
problem when necessary.
References:
Darlington, Everett (2009) Spending Cuts.
Pitchcare, Oct/Nov, Issue No.27 pp88-89
Grant, Jennifer PhD, Ferrentino, Gerard and
Neal, Joseph PhD (2006) Pest Monitoring
Available at;
http://www.auduboninternational.org/PDFs/C
URS-%20Pest%20Monitoring%20-
%20A%20Key%20to%20IPM%20for%20Turfgr
ass.pdf (Accessed 3rd March 2010)
Laub, Curt (2009) Available at;
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/444/444-416/444-
416.html (Accessed 17th March 2010)
Menzies, Geoff, MacConnell, Craig and
Havens, Dyvon (1994) IPM Available at;
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb17
86/eb1786.html (Accessed 3rd March 2010)
Scouting Form (2009) Available at
http://www.ontarioipm.com/documents/Scou
tingForm.pdf (Accessed 3rd March 2010)
Voigt, Tom and Fermanian, Tom (1998)
Integrated Pest Management for Turf
Managers. Available at;
http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/extension/extipm.html
(Accessed 3rd March 2010)
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