IPM for Pesticide Retailers

Pesticide Retailer IPM Education Meeting Notes - July 13, 2006
Organized by the IPM Institute and the NE IPM Center. Posted on July 25, 2006. Please send errors or omissions to Tom Green.

Participating
Augustin, Baumgartner, Braband, Brandt, Butler, Criswell, Delaney, T. Green, Hughes for M. Gold, Johnson, Koplinka-Loehr, Malinoski, Masters, Martinez, Moses, Purin, Ratcliffe, Simpson

Thanks to the USDA Northeastern IPM Center (http://neipmc.org/index.cfm) for hosting the call.

Agenda Items
1. Important: The following initiative is subject to change and is embargoed from press coverage until the MOU is concluded, anticipated in late September 2006.

History- Tom Simpson, University of Maryland, reported on an initiative with six Chesapeake region states, Scotts Miracle Gro and other manufacturers of fertilizers for consumer use. Tom chairs the nutrient and sediment subcommittee of the Chesapeake Bay Program. The initiative was sparked by an effort coordinated by Businesses for the Bay, leading to a meeting between Scotts and the subcommittee two years ago on phosphorus (P) reduction.

Continuing conversations culminated in an offer by Scotts in March 2006 to reduce P by 50% in lawn fertilizer products, except for starter and specialty fertilizers. The effort would reduce P use by 1 million lbs, and, if the entire fertilizer industry participated, by 2 million lbs. Rich Martinez of Scotts is coordinating input and participation by other companies.

Surface water loading would be considerably less, and influenced largely by reductions in P inadvertently landing on hard surfaces (e.g., sidewalks, driveways) which according to studies is responsible for most of the loading from lawn fertilizers and represents a small percentage (~2%) of fertilizer applied.

(Note: On a tour of Scotts Marysville facilities this week, participants viewed a rotary fertilizer spreader with Scotts-developed EdgeGuard™ technology which blocks particles from landing on hard surfaces when the spreader is being used along lawn edges.)

Current activity- Current plan is to finalize an MOU with the 50% P reduction program included, to be signed by industry and Chesapeake Bay state governors. The MOU is expected to also address future work towards nitrogen and pesticide impact reductions. Reduced P product is expected to be available in these states for the 2007 growing season, with a goal of completely replacing current product with reduced P inventory by 2009 nationwide.

Discussion is continuing on a consumer education component, potentially focusing on reading/following product labels, soil testing to determine amount of fertilizer needed, mowing high, irrigating deeply and infrequently, etc. Vehicles could include signage with a tear-off card and a website for more detailed information. A mass media campaign may also be developed.

IPM expertise will be needed to explore pesticide impact reduction options. Tom will also work to recruit more nutrient expertise for our conference calls.

Opportunities to get involved- For more information, contact Tom Simpson, or Rich Martinez.

2. Carrie Koplinka-Loehr reported on a tour and discussion hosted by Scotts with Extension, state lead agency, federal agency and ngo representatives July 11-12, to build relationships, awareness and understanding, and to come up with some priority messages to consumers.

Mary Kay Malinoski described the SMG call-in lines, including capacity of the staff (200 seasonal; almost 40 FT yr round); nearly 1 million calls handled each year. Full timers are responsible for a group of seasonal employees and technical calls are transferred to the full-time staff when necessary. SMG can identify trends, such as the migration of pests, by analyzing their calls.

3. Where to go from here
Feedback on whether to continue: This is very helpful, especially to identify common messages – Ed Brandt.

Suggestions for future calls: Tom Delaney said there was a project that professionals did in the Chesapeake Bay a few years ago. He'll contact Judy Landers or Mary Lynn Wilhere to determine if they can provide an update on what was learned. Jim Criswell from Oklahoma State remains very interested in getting speakers on the topic of how to deal with big box stores. John Butler will look into a speaker on product knowledge training related to the above.

NEXT CALL: Monday July 24, 2006
3 PM Eastern, 2 PM Central, Noon Pacific

CALL INSTRUCTIONS
Call 605 990-0001, enter password 165144 followed by the # sign.

Note: This is not a toll-free number. You will pay whatever charges you would normally incur for a call to the 605 area code.

Agenda:

1. Skip Richter, Travis County Extension Horticulturist, will update us on an ongoing central Texas partnership with the City of Austin's Watershed Protection Department.

The Grow Green website describes the project scope and resources, including two videos on DVD for training employees of garden centers on general principles of less toxic gardening and lawn care. The videos are designed for garden center employee training and for placement in libraries and other public venues. Current efforts include joint research work on lawns and various fertilizers with regard to water quality effects. Meetings are being held with national fertilizer manufacturers/providers to discuss development of products with an eye toward building strong, quality turf and minimizing water quality degradation. The city monitors groundwater and surface water quality in the area. The project gears public education regarding landscaping practices to good science and what has been observed in local watersheds. Much effort is also directed at promoting native and adapted plants that are not prone to pest and disease problems and development of publication materials along those lines. A Native and Adapted Plant book has been developed. More at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/

2. Discussion
3. Update on items from previous calls.
4. Next call topics, potentials include Healthy Garden, Healthy Home program from San Diego County.

For snapshots of current programs and links to additional resources, see http://www.ipminstitute.org/Retailer_IPM_Education.htm

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