Preventive fungicide treatments fit into a regular lawn care program, but many lawn care operators (LCOs) opt for a limited-use approach because of the costs involved. Manufacturers suggest that LCOs consider regional climate, turf species and historical data before they decide whether a fungicide program makes sense.
“It all depends on your area,” says Eric Kalasz, Bayer Environmental Science, business manager for fungicides, Montvale, N.J. “Farther south there tends to be heavier disease pressure, so lawn care operators may use more preventive programs. The farther north you go it becomes probably more of a rescue treatment.
A client’s history can also determine whether a preventive program should be recommended, says John Price, technical account manager, Dow AgroSciences, Marysville, Ohio. “If you have a property that traditionally has dollar spot, you should take that into consideration,” he says.
LCOs should also look at the type of turf they’re dealing with, says Steve Stansell, market manager for Syngenta Professional Products, Greensboro, N.C. “A preventive program probably depends on the turf type and what part of the country you’re in,” Stansell says. “We know that certain types of turf are prone to have diseases year in and year out, so if I were an LCO in those areas, I would be talking to my homeowners and pre-positioning that we historically have diseases here. And we can help the LCO prove that by going online and seeing historical data on diseases.”
And in terms of educating customers, LCOs can show customers hard data about disease pressure. Some fungicide manufacturers provide Web sites where LCOs can retrieve maps that show current disease outbreaks and charts that show historical data for particular regions, says Steve Stansell, market manager for Syngenta Professional Products, Greensboro, N.C. “An LCO can go in and see the area they’re in and get disease updates on a level of warning,” Stansell says. “I think that’s a great tool to help them get their timing right and have the best performance. I also think it’s a great marketing tool – to print out a disease map and show where the disease is happening.”