Precision Disease Management: The Wave of the Future?
By Dr. Paul Koch, UW Madison Modern disease management amount of pesticide required to encompasses a wide array of culcontrol a particular disease. In my tural factors such as proper fertilopinion, precision can be increased ity, irrigation, traffic management, through two primary ways; 1) only air movement, sunlight penetraapplying pesticides WHEN they are tion, mowing height, and traffic required and 2) only applying pesmanagement. But in most cases, ticides WHERE they are required. especially with a disease like dolLet’s look into each one of these lar spot, cultural practices alone are aspects in a little more detail. not completely effective at managing disease. Hence, fungicides are The When: Using Disease often required at multiple points Predictive Modeling For Improvthroughout the year to adequately ing Precision suppress disease. Traditionally, fungicides have been applied at regular Currently most superintendents intervals throughout the growing use a mixture of models, soil temseason to the vast majority of putperatures, indicator areas, and gut ting greens, fairways, and tee boxes instinct for properly timing fungion any given course. However, in- cide applications. These methods creased regulatory and social conhave worked relatively well for a cern surrounding pesticide usage number of diseases like take-all and ever tightening budgets make patch, fairy ring, and summer patch. developing more efficient and preHowever, models developed for dolcise means for pesticide application lar spot fungicide timing have been scheduling necessary for effective mostly ineffective, either instructdisease management in the future. ing the applicator to apply more than they would when using a strict For the basis of this article, I calendar-based method or applying will define precision disease mantoo little and leading to widespread agement as using the minimum Page 38