Pumping up the pipeline
1 Feb, 2006 By: Ron Hall Landscape ManagementEncouraged by continuing growth, suppliers of chemical products promise a ongoing stream of choices for '06.
Basic manufacturers and formulators continue to focus on turf & ornamental (T&O) where they see continuing modest growth.
Also encouraging, proven chemistry is coming off patent. It promises a growing selection of generic T&O pest control choices from companies such as Phoenix Environmental, the two-year-old Georgia-based chemical supplier with experienced formulation expertise.
Professional landscape and lawn care operators are fortunate to have basic manufacturers searching for and developing new chemistry.
"We're starting to screen earlier on non-crop products," says Toni Bucci, business manager of turf & ornamentals for BASF. "We have an active discovery process for herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. They all get screened on turf."
The same can be said, to varying degrees, for other basic suppliers, such as Syngenta Professional Products, Bayer Environmental Science and Dow AgroSciences.
This past year saw the arrival of new players in T&O — DuPont, Arysta LifeScience and aforementioned Phoenix Environmental.
The following is a quick rundown of what to expect from these and other chemical control product suppliers.
Insecticides
A 2004 collaboration between Bayer Environmental Science and FMC Corp. resulted in the development of Allectus insecticide containing Bayer's imidacloprid and FMC's bifenthrin. It controls surface and subsurface insect pests in turf. The U.S. EPA approved Allectus with fertilizer this past December. Look for product this spring.
Meanwhile Bayer continues to tout the efficacy and long-term control of its still relatively new TopChoice fire ant bait (A.I. fipronil). But the newest insecticide in its portfolio is Forbid, a miticide (A.I. spiromesifen) that can be sprayed on the leaves of ornamentals and is effective against mites and whiteflies at all life stages. It was unveiled in July 2005.
Arysta LifeScience, which moved its U.S. operations to Cary, NC, in 2005, offers its insecticide Arena (A.I. clothianidin). Continuing field trials show that it offers excellent control of most major surface and subsurface insect pests (white grubs, chinch bugs, sod webworms) at low rates at standard timing, providing a better bargain for end users. Applying it at the labeled rate for early or curative treatments offers equally good control, says Arysta's Dr. Doug Houseworth.
DuPont Professional Products is finding early success in the turf pest control market on the back of its proprietary indoxacarb molecule, the A.I. in its Advion granular fire ant bait. Mike McDermott, DuPont global business manager, says the product has been providing users with a 24 to 72 hour knockdown of fire ant colonies and excellent residual control. The company has more plans for the versatile molecule, he says.
Also, look for DuPont to come out with several more insecticides with unique chemistry, including a product targeted at white grubs, McDermott says.
BASF's ramped-up insecticide discovery efforts will produce a fire ant bait for the 2007 season. The yet-to-be named product will contain the A.I. metaflumizone and will replace Amdro Pro.
"Amdro Pro is a tried-and-true technology. It's been around a long time and we're ready to freshen things up a bit," says BASF's Bucci. "We're bringing in a new proprietary BASF chemistry."
Herbicides
Meanwhile, BASF's Pendulum Aquacap pre-emergent herbicide (pendimethalin) has been a success in lawn care, and the company plans to develop other products in a similar ultra-thin capsule formulation, Bucci says.
This spring look for PBI/Gordon's new 4-way mixture (quinclorac, sulfentrazone, 2,4-D and dicamba). It's targeted for post-emergent control of crabgrass and broadleaf weeds. The company will release its name soon.
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