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Lawn Care Operators – Application Data Management

As Lawn Care Operators (LCO’s) you’re managing numerous properties – each somewhat different. And as part of your state’s pesticide applicator regulations, you’re responsible for keeping up with a minimum amount of information concerning every application. IMG_0721 (2)

So take a few notes about what you should be noting! You can do this via smart phone app, or just create a paper trail for every account – as long as you can show it to the inspector and regulators. Read here for Mississippi’s Bureau of Plant Industries regulation of professional services.

Here’s the main ones I think are pertinent:

Street Address
Latitude and Longitude
Date of application
Time of application
Applicator Name
Contract Number
Application Type (ex: preemergence, broadleaf and/or grass postemergence, fertilizer, fungicide, insecticide … )
Granular or Liquid Application
Spot Spray?
Complete Coverage?
Application material active ingredient
Trade Name
Reason for Application
Rate of each material applied
Area covered with treatment
Use restrictions for material and how directions were followed
Whether product was irrigated in
Next rain event
Soil Temperature
Air Temperature
% Cloud Cover
Whether Soil moisture was dry, adequate, high, excessive
Humidity
Turf stage of growth
%Turf green cover
When was the property last mown? Is mown a word or is it mowed?
And then just notes about the property:
What weeds, disease, insects were present
In what stage
Recommend follow up, Yes or No?
Always take some pictures of problem areas.
Some others that might prove helpful for your logs would be:
whether the homeowner was present
were they informed of application
if so, how: phone, email, person? when?
Can you think of other info that might be useful?

 

Yes, there’s an app for that. In fact, there are several. One of which is DoForms (there are several others). Most are an online database accessible via smart phone. You basically make a new form that asks you to fill in responses to different types of questions. Ideally, your applicator would fill in questions at each site.

Grow Grass,

Jay