Nutrient use reductions: how you did it

We wrote last week about the large decreases in nutrient use documented in GCSAA's recently published report, "Nutrient use and management practices on U.S. golf courses". But how were such large reductions achieved?

The biggest contributor were the significantly reduced rates of nitrogen, phosphate and potash that superintendents applied. For example, nitrogen rates went from an average of 2.75 lbs/1000 sq ft/year in 2006, to 2.17 lb/1000 in 2014, a 21% decrease. Phosphate rates decreased even more dramatically, from 0.82…