It's kind of amazing when you stop and think about it. A company plans to sink an oil well in 5,000 feet of water, 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and then drill up to 18,000 feet into the sea bottom to pump out crude oil.
The technology it takes to accomplish this is nothing short of amazing. Yet the idea itself is easy to grasp: a floating oil rig is essentially attached to a large pipe to pump oil deep inside the Earth through the ocean to the surface so it may be shipped to a refinery.
It's simple in theory, but what if this pipe somehow breaks or ruptures in some way from a storm at sea or some kind of accident. How do we keep the oil from leaking into the ocean? Hindsight is always 20/20, but you don't need to be an expert to think about what could go wrong and what has occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.
The lesson here is no matter how unlikely the event, if it could happen you should have a plan in place to manage the issue. You might not be able to control the event and prevent it from occurring, but you can control your readiness for it.
Thankfully most of us don't worry about environmental disasters on the scale of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but turf pros are stewards of the environment and must be ready for the likely and the unlikely.
What's the worst that could happen? Think about it and think about how you would handle it and who you may rely on for help.
Does your team know its role when that worst case scenario becomes reality? Do you have a plan ready to pull out and follow? Have you run through the plan in some kind of drill or rehearsal to see if it plays out as well in real life as it reads on paper?
The old adage that people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan, is true.
So what is your plan for something that is likely to occur? It could be drought or too much rain. Maybe it's vandals who tear up the course late one Saturday night, or disease that wreaks havoc on your greens before a big tournament. Perhaps it's a customer whose yard is now full of crabgrass or damaged ornamental plants because you did not calibrate the correct rate for the preemergent herbicide you applied earlier this spring.
I'm betting you have some plans for those issues and I know that BASF can play a critical role as you encounter them. If it's greens stressed by summer heat we've got Honor™ fungicide and Trinity® fungicide to ward off disease and improve turf playability. We've got Drive® XLR8 herbicide and Onetime® herbicide in case those grassy weeds, sedges and broadleaf's spoil your plans for perfect turfgrass this season.
If you've got BASF chemistry in your shed, you've got more than just plans; you've got products that deliver results for almost any likely turf disaster. Call us if you encounter that unlikely disaster as well.
If we can help, we'll be there to help execute your plan and help you control what you can control. You've got my word on it.
Thank you,
Brian Lish
Business Manager
BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals
Posted at 11:12 am
About the Author
Brian Lish
Brian Lish is the Strategic Account Manager for BASF Specialty Products Department and is based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
