Divot Mix

When you play a course and remember each hole, it has individuality and change. If your mind cannot recall the exact sequence of the holes, that course lacks the great assets of originality and diversity. -- George Thomas

Leadership Survey open through Feb. 29

GCSAA Class A and SM members can express their opinions and earn .25 service points by taking the annual Leadership Survey. It will be available online through Feb. 29. The results will be provided to the national media as a means to position GCSAA members and the association.

February Greenlinks features air quality

This months featured case study on Greenlinks from EDGE, focuses on air quality. Pinehurst Resort and Country Club’s, Bob Farren, CGCS, is the host of Greeenlinks.

Using EPA grant funds, GCSAA Class A superintendent Paul Galligan and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians have incorporated an air quality project at the Grand Traverse (Mich.) Resort and Spa.

Galligan and Brain Napont, air quality specialist for Grand Traverse Band, worked together to reduce emissions from select pieces of their golf course equipment, improve air quality and improve the environment.  Galligan said Napont suggested retrofitting catalytic converters to some of the diesel powered equipment used on the golf course.

After studying the options, they decided to install the converters on three pieces of equipment that are each used 32 to 34 hours a week.

The project is believed to be the first of its kind in applying diesel oxidation catalysts to multiple pieces of golf course maintenance equipment. In this application, the technology is estimated to achieve approximately a 60 percent reduction in carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons, and a 30 percent reduction in particulate matter, as well as a reduction in diesel odor and white smoke.

More case studies are available on EDGE at www.eifg.org; EDGE is supported in part by the Toro Foundation.

OSHA reminds employers to post injury/illness summaries

Between Feb. 1 and April 30 each year, most employers must post a summary (OSHA Form 300A) of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred the previous year.

The summary must include the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2007 and were logged on the OSHA Form 300. To assist in calculating incidence rates, information about the annual average number of employees and total hours worked during the calendar year is also required.

If a company recorded no injuries or illnesses in 2007, the employer must enter "zero" on the total line. The form must be signed and certified by a company executive. Form 300A should be displayed in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted.

Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain industries are normally exempt from federal OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping and posting requirements. A complete list of exempt industries in the retail, services, finance, insurance and real estate sectors is posted on the OSHA Web site.

The agency noted that this a good time for employers to review their 300 logs and determine where injuries and illnesses are occurring and determine a strategy to reduce, and hopefully eliminate, these safety and health hazards.

Copies of OSHA Forms 300 and 300A are available on the OSHA Recordkeeping Web page at: http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/index.html.

Grasses' guardian gene found

Agricultural Research Service scientists say that the world's grasses might not have survived long enough to evolve into the crops that feed the human race—as well as provide a growing share of the world's energy needs—had it not been for one gene that has protected them against a deadly fungal pathogen for more than 50 million years.

These crops include wheat, corn, rice, rye, barley, sorghum and switchgrass.

Collaborative research by Steven Scofield, a research geneticist in the ARS Crop Production and Pest Control Research Unit in West Lafayette, Ind., and Purdue University scientists Guri Johal and Michael Zanis has proven that this gene, HM1, has been present in all grasses since shortly after their origin and protects them from the fungus Cochliobolus carbonum Race 1.
 
Johal isolated the HM1 gene in 1992 from mutants of corn in which the HM1 genes were not functional. The fungus is a devastating pathogen in these mutant corn lines, causing leaf blight, root and stalk rots, and ear mold.

Johal also found that HM1 genes were present in other grass crops, raising the question: Does HM1 also protect these other plants from CCR1?

Scofield and ARS colleagues developed a virus-induced gene silencing system that switched off all HM1 genes in barley—causing it to become highly susceptible to CCR1. This proved that the HM1 gene provides CCR1 resistance in other grasses as well.

The understanding of the first known disease resistance gene that works across an entire taxonomic group holds promise for scientists seeking to develop similar resistance in other crop groups. Since mechanisms underlying broad disease resistance remain a mystery in plant biology, this finding represents a major step in understanding an important process in plant pathological research.

A paper on the research is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.