Quintozene, PMRA

An e-mail recently sent out to all golf course by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA: the agency which regulates which pesticides can be used in Canada) informed everyone of the cancellation of a quintozene; a fungicide labelled for use on many agricultural crops and labelled for use against particular turf diseases. This fungicide is the backbone of KGC's snow mould prevention program. It provides good control of grey and pink snow mould at a reasonable cost. However as of December 31, 2010 it will no longer be labelled for use on turf. The good news is we can still spray our cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage) at a rate more than 2X the rate suggested for turf diseases......go figure not suitable for grass but O.K. for the food we eat. If quintozene possess properties that make it inappropriate for use then no longer labelling it for any use make sense but with it still labelled for agricultural use the PMRA sends mixed messages which is used by special interest groups when they promote their anti-pesticide agenda and criticize the PRMA and its registration process. Anyways, the importance to KGC relates to the choice we will have to make in the very near future: spend the money to continue to treat for snow mould on the fairways with an alternative product or save the money and not treat at all. The following pictures is of a section of fairway not treated for snow mould taken July 16th:

Snow mould damage
Click picture once for better view
and again for magnified view

I know it doesn't look too bad but remember this picture is taken after 10 - 12 weeks of growth. We are probably only 8 weeks away from our first frost delay! Those areas won't fill in before the end of the season. This next picture was taken in the spring right after snow melt and shows the obvious control of winter diseases quintozene offers.

Snow Mould Damage

If all the turf was maintained at 1.5-2 inches this type of damage wouldn't be a big deal. Every spring all the lawns and sports fields around town come back, don't they? However, there is a direct relationship between the intensity of the maintenance and level of disease: turf maintained at a higher intensity equals more disease opportunity. If everybody would be happly playing their entire game of golf on 2 inch turf this situation would not be so threatening.

The industry had a chance to contact the PMRA during the re-evaluation process to explain the importance of quintozene to their operation. Here is a excerpt from the letter I sent referring to the budgetary impact discontinuing quintozene would have: "Today, an application of
quintozene on 10.11 ha (size of treated area at my golf course) at present label rates the cost would be $9350. The cost of comparable treatments would be $30,250 (label rates of Propiconazole) or $22,650 (label rates of Chlorothalonil and Iprodione). The prohibitive costs of the available alternatives to Quintozene require decreasing the area treated." KGC will, not this year but definately next year, will be facing some tough choices. The almost tripling of a single budget item combined with the constant increases in fertilizer, fuel, and staffing is making it nearly impossible to meet expenseses with our present revenue.

River watch: July 21

Despite all thunderstorms the level is down. Look back to the previous post and compare the water level by the big rock on the left of both pictures.