Divot Mix

"Of all the games man has devised, supposedly for his enjoyment, golf is in a class by itself in the anguish it inflicts." -- Herbert Warren Wind

EIS to be conducted on Roundup Ready creeping bent

Officials with the Scotts Co. say the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has given them notice that it will conduct an Environmental Impact Statement regarding the company's petition to approve distribution of Roundup Ready creeping bentgrass.

APHIS is expected to release its notice of intent Friday Sept. 24. It is believed to be the first EIS ever conducted on a genetically modified plant.

The move was apparently prompted, in part, by results of a study by EPA scientists on the flow of genes from the genetically modified creeping bentgrass to unmodified creeping bentgrass and other grasses. That study showed gene flow to occur at much greater distances than previously thought. It is expected to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Both Scotts and Monsanto, the companies cooperating in the development of the new bentgrass, say that in discussions with APHIS they have been fully supportive of the Environmental Impact Statement. Bob Harriman, vice president of Biotechnology, said, "Both Scotts and Monsanto told the agency earlier this summer that we supported this unprecedented review as we believe it is in the best interest of our respective companies, the golf course industry, seed growers and the public at large."

Given that there is no history of such reviews, the company declined to predict when Roundup Ready creeping bentgrass would make it to market. They did however express optimism about the process.

Harriman said, "We remain committed to working with federal agencies, as well as any other third party, for as long as necessary to address their questions. We are confident that APHIS will deregulate RRCB so its many benefits may be realized."

For additional articles on the new study and the EIS, visit: http://www.seedquest.com, http://www.sacbee.com and http://www.nytimes.com (registration required)

Michigan baby gets Ryder Cup souvenir

The United States Ryder Cup team didn't go home with the hardware last week, but James Ryder Kowaleski got a souvenir that's going to last him a lifetime.

According to a story in the Detroit News , James was born in Royal Oak, Mich., during Ryder Cup week, so his golf-fan parents decided to name him after it. The story, with a picture of young James, is available online at the Detroit News Web site.

Hurricane recovery resources listed online

GCSAA has gathered a variety of resources to assist golf facilities, which have been impacted by the damaging effects of hurricanes.

They include material previously published in Golf Course Management and the Green Section Record, as well as new information from OSHA, NOAA and the Center for Disease Control. The list is available at http://www.gcsaa.org/Resources/links/hurricane.asp.

Tracing soil nitrogen with electromagnetic induction

An Agricultural Research Service scientist is using electromagnetic induction to measure changes in the soil's electrical conductivity, a quality that can provide important clues to the amount of nutrients present in the soil. The work is of particular interest because nitrogen intended to fertilize plants can sometimes end up in surface or subsurface water.

Roger A. Eigenberg, an agricultural engineer at the ARS Research Center in Clay Center, Neb., has used electromagnetic induction on several fields and created a map that displays nitrate concentrations as light- and dark-shaded areas based on electrical conductivity.

Eigenberg compared fields with and without a winter cover crop and fields with added manure or compost. He discovered that electromagnetic induction could be used to monitor the effects of winter cover crops, because changes corresponded to soil nutrient changes as the cover crop took up nutrients in the fall and released them back to the soil in the spring.

Another Clay Center research location was a former manure compost site. In the past, scientists had to take numerous soil samples to determine where manure rows had been located. Using the commercially available equipment, Eigenberg was able to locate them in a fraction of the time. He tracked nutrient movement over a four-year period and found that using equipment such as the electromagnetic induction meter can determine nutrient buildup and movement to help prevent nitrate leaching into groundwater.

More on the research is published in the September 2004 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.