Long Awaited Update to IPM Manual gets Green Light
by Jerry Rousseau
Limited Allied Golf Association of BC (AGA-BC) activity throughout 2024, and one missed meeting by me, resulted in a year-long deferral of a proposal (put forward by same) to update the 'Manual of Integrated Pest Management for Turf Managers in BC'.
Originally published in 2002 by the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and the Western Canada Turfgrass Association, the 'IPM Guide for Turfgrass Managers' was highly informative but bulky and found itself seriously outdated after nearly a decade-and-a-half since publication.
Recognizing the need for modernization, in 2015 AGA-BC's Environmental Advocacy Committee headed by then WCTA President Keith Lyall, secured $35k in funding from the BC Ministry of Environment with the goal of updating the publication and re-creating it as a free, online resource as part of a larger effort to ensure compliance in the golf industry with new licencing regulations already in the pipe.
After a lengthy RFP process, the new comprehensive electronic version was authored by Mario Lanthier of CropHealth Advising & Research and released in 2019. Writing took about a year through extensive site visits, consultation, photography and compilation. It is currently available for free public access on the website of AGA-BC.
https://aga-bc.org/resources/manual-integrated-pest-management-turf-managers-bc/
Six years later, the Manual finds itself in need of an update and planned expansion. Fortunately, about $11k of funds were left from the original grant, enough to cover this project, but approval from the AGA-BC Board was needed. That came on March 27th with Directors green lighting a full review/update and addition of materials on summer patch diseases.
The entire scope of work, to be done by the original author over several months, includes a detailed review with minor changes to improve overall quality, ie. spelling mistakes, addition of new images, layout tweaks and making a deposit to Library and Archives Canada. The addition of materials on summer patch diseases will address its weakness in this area, especially Brown patch, Yellow patch and also Pythium root rot.
The current update/expansion is expected to nearly exhaust the grant money so moving forward, the turf management industry will find itself on its own. We do need to consider adding sections for irrigation BMPs and invasive species specific to turf and while it's definitely possible to borrow a lot of pre-existing information from groups like IIABC and the BC Invasive Species Council, a lot of work and expense is required to maintain and improve this incredibly valuable resource.