Petro-Canada to enter turf chemical market
12 Feb, 2008 By: Ron Hall LM Direct!ORLANDO — Petro-Canada, the Calgary-based fuel and lubricant giant, is getting into the turfgrass chemical market with plans to introduce a golf course fungicide later this year and a consumer lawn herbicide in 2009, said Reinhold Drygala, Manager Lawncare Products. The fungicide product is a virtually non-toxic product, while the reduced risk herbicide will significantly reduce the amount of active ingredient used, he said.
“We’ve been following what’s been going on with the (pesticide) bans in the municipalities in Canada, and we’ve been able to capitalize on our two decades of experience with agricultural spray fluids to develop some innovative products for turf care,” Drygala told Landscape Management during the Golf Industry Show here recently.
He described the new products as being effective, safe and environmentally responsible; in a sense, a new alternative to traditional pesticides. They are being readied for both the U.S. and Canadian markets.
“We’ve been talking to communities and telling them that before they consider an out-right ban, here’s a solution. There is no need to go from chemical to non-chemical completely,” he said. “Some are listening.”
Drygala said multi-year turf trials at universities across the United States and Canada have been promising. The fungicide has shown good results against the prominent fungal diseases on both bentgrass and ryegrass and utilizes both contact and systemic modes of action, he said.
The herbicide is described as a “lawn weed remover” rather than a weed killer. “It has a unique mode of action,” he explained. “You can see results in as little as an hour.” He said, in addition to the academic trials, the product has been used in trials by the City of Mississauga, Ontario, with excellent results. The City of Chicago has plans to test it this spring. The Canadian-based company is also developing a non-selective herbicide, he added.
Petro-Canada blends and packages more than 350 different lubricants, specialty fluids and greases that are exported to more than 60 countries on six continents. Products are manufactured from 99.9% pure base oils.
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