 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Money Spent on Pesticides
In order to make a general assessment regarding the quantity of pesticides applied to each course, the amount of money superintendents spent on pesticides per year was analyzed and graphed. Pesticides include insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. The interviewed superintendents were asked how much money, on average, they spent on pesticides per year, as well as the maintained acreage of the course (the areas where pesticides are generally applied). The results were a mix of estimated averages and exact figures. In order to normalize the data, and make it compatible from course to course, the money spent per year was divided by the number of maintained acres, which produced an estimated cost of pesticides per acre per year for each course. The costs per course were graphed according to course status, with the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) computer program.
| The box and whisker above provides a visual understanding of the wide range of dollars superintendents spend in order to maintain their courses. The lowest amount of money spent is $10,000 per year and the highest is $130,000 per year. The results show that similar to water use, the private courses spend more on pesticides than either the public or semi-private courses. However, semi-private courses, on average, spend slightly less on pesticides than the public courses, although the differences are minimal and not statistically significant. The differences between the high and low spenders were analyzed and can be found here: Alternatives to Pesticides. |