Pesticide Use, Control Measures for

Effective control measures are needed to ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, as well as reducing waste, making efficient use of often expensive products, protects the health of workers and others, reduces the negative impact pesticides can have on the environment and reduces the likelihood and extent of a build-up in resistance to pesticides in weeds, pests and diseases.

The first control measure should always be to use alternative methods of control, thereby eliminating the need for a pesticide to be applied. Consider the IPM triangle, and look at ensuring appropriate techniques are followed, for example:

• ensuring correct heights of cut are used as a cultural practice,
• physical practices such as hand weeding, or use of flame guns (if appropriate),
• mechanical practices such as boxing off of grass clippings or scarification (especially in fine turf and intensively maintained perennial ryegrass swards), or
• biological methods, such as ensuring adequate biostimulant applications or inoculations to build up beneficial micro-organisms within a rootzone.
• All of these types of approaches would be considered instead of chemical methods of control, although it would be important to determine the effectiveness of other methods, especially timeliness of them for a given situation.

Another important consideration is whether a threshold for control has been reached, otherwise maybe there is no need to do anything. Even if a threshold for theoretical control has been reached then review whether the threshold is appropriate or whether it may have been set too low.

If a pesticide is needed, then check if the pesticide that was initially planned for use can be substituted for something else. This might be for one that is safer to use and has less of an impact on the environment, maybe it can be applied in granular form rather than as a liquid to reduce or eliminate potential for any drift, or whether there is an organic / biodegradable product which is suitable for application.

Use the latest equipment with appropriate features, including (if relevant) shields or shrouds to reduce or prevent drift, improved valves to reduce potential leaks, the correct nozzle type for the volume of water, as well as ensuring all equipment is well-maintained and is functioning efficiently, without any leakages from the system. The equipment should also be calibrated correctly to ensure recommended application rates are achieved.

Make sure appropriate PPE is worn and that it is all in good condition.

Consider operational impacts, including:
• ensuring the staff time allocated for the complete process from calibration, through application and final clean-up and storage is adequate,
• the best time period in which to apply a pesticide, for example, the quietest part of a day,
• during quiet spells, for example during school half-term.
• as along as possible before a game is played on a treated area, and
• that weather and ground conditions are suitable.