PESTICIDES/FERTILIZERS: Back to the Future

Another year has come and gone, and 2008 lies ahead. With the coming months a seemingly clean slate, it is difficult for lawn care operators (LCOs) to consider conditions six months from now. But when much of their livelihood is based on factors out of their control – weather, labor shortages, fuel prices – it’s important for LCOs to plan ahead and prepare for the unexpected.
 
A prevailing attitude to pest, disease and weed control in 2008 is the industry’s desire to approach business in an environmentally responsible way. The green movement has influenced nearly every aspect of people’s lives – from the cars we drive to the light bulbs we switch on – and LCOs, university researchers and manufacturers from around the country conclude it will continue to impact the lawn care industry.

GOING GREEN. More and more clients seek greener homes both inside and out, and LCOs and manufacturers are answering the call. “Environmental stewardship and pesticides aren’t often associated with each other,” says Todd Mayhew, researcher for Valent, Phoenix, Ariz. “But an overall trend in the lawn care market is to deliver products that are environmentally benign as well as effective.”
 
John Gachina, owner of Gachina Landscape Management, Menlo Park, Calif., says his state’s progressive culture has embraced the green movement. While he still offers synthetic products, Gachina is researching organic products as part of what he calls “bay-friendly landscaping,” which focuses on the health of the San Francisco Bay and its waterways. About a dozen of his clients request organic programs as part of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a program run by the U.S. Green Building Council to encourage environmental consciousness in the building industry, and he predicts this number will continue to rise. “I don’t know if it’s a response to Al Gore’s movie, ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ or just general awareness, but we’ve hit a tipping point where being green is big,” he says. “That’s what people are talking about, so we’re working hard to get the necessary information to be environmental stewards.”
 
Chris Peppers, maintenance manager for Frontier Landscaping, Vancouver, Wash., says his company also is looking to reduce its chemical use by growing its integrated pest management (IPM) program and “monitoring, monitoring, monitoring” problems like white grubs and European crane fly. “We try to deal with problems culturally first and use chemicals as a last resort,” he says.
 
Because drinking water in the Vancouver area comes from an underground aquifer, Peppers says it’s the company’s responsibility to exercise caution when using chemical products and stresses the importance of using them according to their labels. Like Gachina, Peppers is looking into the benefits of organic fertilizers and says it’s necessary to educate customers about the products’ differences. “You have to explain to your customers that their lawns won’t look the same at first when using organics, but they will look great later,” Peppers says. “Slow-release synthetic fertilizers and lots of rain have spoiled our Northwest customers, they’re used to very green lawns.”
 
Even in the East and Midwest where the green movement has arguably been slower to catch on, more and more clients are requesting to have their lawns treated without synthetic pesticides, says David Shelter, urban landscape entomologist for The Ohio State University in Columbus. Legislation also is driving this trend. For example, Ohio law permits usage of four nicotinoids, a type of insecticide chemistry, while New York law permits just one, which can be used only by licensed technicians in specific places. “This kind of legislation is forcing contractors to use more organic materials,” he says, adding insecticidal and miticidal soaps and oils are regaining popularity. “Landscape contractors have kind of forgotten how and when to use them, but when used correctly they’re extremely effective.”
 
While synthetic and organic products can be effective, installing and maintaining sustainable landscapes is another way to avoid pest, disease and weed problems, and Shelter expects this to be a growing trend in 2008. Shelter suggests contractors replace their clients’ susceptible plant material with pest- and disease-tolerant plants. While it can cost 20 percent more to install tolerant plants, Shelter says they avoid future pest and disease problems. “Contractors should modify their landscapes in the short term for better long-term performance,” he says. “If contractors approach potential problems from the get-go, then homeowners don’t have to immediately start spraying.”
 
Lawn care companies are looking for a number of ways to be green. Paul Wagner, president of Masters Green, Walled Lake, Mich., says his company stopped putting its marketing materials and application notices in plastic bags and started doing all billing electronically. He includes tips in the company’s monthly newsletter on how clients can reduce waste, and is also looking for a facility to recycle the company’s used fertilizer bags.
 
“We’re trying to do little things that show our clients we care about what we do,” Wagner says.

UNPREDICTABLE PROBLEMS. Warmer winters, lengthy droughts and periods of heavy rainfall throughout the country contribute to changes in typical pest, disease and weed populations. Peppers has witnessed above-average rainfall and more snow and ice in Vancouver over the past three to five years. This climate change places more pressure on plants and turf which provides a foothold for weeds, disease and insects. For example, pink snow mold, which previously plagued only golf courses, has recently become a problem in residential lawns. “Problems occur when more than one pressure – like drought and poor mowing practices – occur at once,” Peppers says. “Our strategy is to continue to identify and monitor problems and figure out the best treatments.”
 
Jason Kuhlemeier, marketing specialist for Bayer Environmental Sciences, Research Triangle Park, N.C., says contractors in the South should prepare for severe drought that he expects will continue into early 2008. “This will have a big influence on how much water contractors are able to use and when,” he says.
 
The water issue will undoubtedly affect weed populations in 2008, Kuhlemeier says, as less water means weaker turf. However, areas that receive too much rainfall can have more weed issues because moist conditions allow weeds to flourish. “If Mother Nature cooperates and lawn care operators can create healthy turf, then weeds might not be a significant problem next year,” Kuhlemeier says.
 
The Midwest has experienced much warmer winter temperatures the past few years, which have allowed many cold-sensitive insects to thrive. Bagworms, never found north of Southern Ohio in the 1980s, now inhabit Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan. Calico scales and mimosa webworms, which used to be knocked out by below-zero temperatures, now “run rampant,” Shelter says. “With these new problems, lawn care operators need to be flexible and willing to stray from their old programs. They shouldn’t spray just to spray – clients should pay them to monitor their plants and turf and manage problems as they come up.”
 
Because it takes experienced, qualified technicians to monitor problems and identify solutions, Shelter says the green industry’s labor crisis often prevents this from happening. “It takes time to gather the right people who have the confidence to identify problems and treatments,” he says. “Temporary or seasonal workers can’t always make those decisions accurately, and it’s difficult for the industry to retain the knowledgeable ones.”

PRODUCTS AND PRICING. Depending on region, contractors expect product and material costs to fluctuate throughout 2008. Duane McNair, operations manager for LMC Lawn Management Co. in Houston, says pre-winter ordering prices were comparable to last year’s. But because fertilizers are made of petroleum products, he expects prices to rise during the peak season in April and May.
 
The price of fertilizer has risen 10 to 20 percent in the Vancouver area due to the increased demand for urea for alternative fuels production, Peppers says. Product prices also have risen slightly in California, and will most likely continue to do so because of the large amount of energy it takes to produce them, Gachina says.
 
In Michigan, Wagner budgeted for a 17 percent increase in product prices, but wouldn’t be surprised if increases reach 20 percent. “It’s difficult to even get pricing information right now because they are going up so fast,” he says. “But our distributors are projecting a real doom-and-gloom outlook.”
 
LCOs are right to expect product prices to rise, and the increase will be felt industrywide, not just in the lawn care market, Mayhew says. “Most raw materials are tied to the petroleum market, and the whole chemical industry is petroleum-based,” he says. “Prices will increase next year in all areas of the industry.”
 
Kuhlemeier agrees that contractors can expect product price increases in 2008. On the chemical side of things, increases should be a few percent, similar to that of inflation, he says. Because fertilizers are petroleum-based, the prices of these products will be more volatile.
 
However, LCOs and manufacturers say the continued emergence of generic lawn care products helps keep costs down. “Off-patent products have helped control the rising costs,” McNair says. “We try to make the best purchasing decisions for our customers by using products that work and come at a good value.”
 
Aside from weather, labor and the green movement, additional factors like invasions of new pests, resurgences of old pests and global trade will also impact the lawn care industry in 2008. How will the year pan out? Only time will tell. “The problem with predictions is that no one knows if they’ll be right,” Shelter says. “The most important thing for contractors to remember for the coming year is to be flexible.”