AROUND THE TRADE AROUND THE TRADE
POA CONTROL, HERBICIDE RESISTANCE THE FOCUS OF BAYER WORKSHOP
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Above right: Dr Peter Boutsalis talks herbicide resistance Above: A strong contingent of interstate superintendents, turf managers and trade representatives made the journey to the University of Adelaide for Bayer’s Poa annua workshop Below: Inspecting herbicide resistance trial pots at the University of Adelaide’s research facilities
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GCSA Silver Partner Bayer hosted a Poa annua management workshop at The University of Adelaide in mid-August with more than 40 in attendance. The workshop featured guest speakers Dr Peter Boutsalis (University of Adelaide), John Neylan (Turfgrass Consultancy and Research) and Jyri Kaapro (Bayer) and followed along similar lines to the workshops that dealt with Poa management and herbicide resistance at the recent 33rd Australian Turfgrass Conference. A strong contingent of interstate superintendents, turf managers and trade reps made the journey to Adelaide for the workshop, with one of the highlights an inspection of the University of Adelaide’s research facilities. The day kicked off with Dr Boutsalis discussing the increasing problem of Poa annua herbicide resistance and relaying results from trials conducted on 32 Poa annua samples collected from golf courses around Australia. This testing, funded by the AGCSA, has demonstrated significant resistance to most post-emergent herbicides (see ATM Volume 19.3 – May-June 2017, ‘The power of Poa’, pages 50-54, for more on these results). Dr Boutsalis was followed by John Neylan who looked at results from an STA Victoria-funded project on Poa annua control in warm-season turf, before Bayer’s Jyri Kaapro discussed best
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 19.5
management practices with Poa annua control herbicides and the considerations superintendents need to factor into their programmes. After lunch an open forum session was held before the group viewed the university’s plant research facilities where the herbicide resistance screening testing was undertaken. James Royal, turf market manager for Bayer’s Environmental Sciences division, says the day was another important step in the industry’s awareness of this growing issue and the need for a collaborative approach going forward. “The team at Bayer are very proud to have been able to bring key industry representatives and thought leaders together to look deeper into the increasing challenge of Poa annua management in warmseason turf,” says Royal. “Bayer appreciated the support of all that committed time to attend the event, particularly those that travelled from interstate. It was very pleasing to see such a high level of interest and engagement during the seminar, which is testament to a strong desire to deepen knowledge and understanding on this very complex issue of herbicide resistance.” In other Bayer news, its pre-emergent herbicide for warm-season turf, Specticle, has been registered for general ‘turf’ situations. Specticle (a.i. 200g/L indaziflam) was initially registered in 2016 for application to golf fairways only, but the new approved use means it can be used on golf course roughs, sporting amenities/grounds such as football ovals, soccer fields etc. (excluding tennis courts and bowling greens) and other open space turf areas. “We are pleased about the extent of positive feedback we have received from golf courses that have used Specticle since its launch in mid-2016, both from late winter/spring applications targeting key summer grass weeds and most recently from late summer/autumn applications targeting Poa annua,” says Royal. “We are excited about this new opportunity to extend support to turf managers outside of golf to experience the benefits from this latest innovation in weed control chemistry.” Specticle is available in a 1 litre pack and in the interim period until the existing product pack is re-labelled, the new label is electronically from Bayer agents or can be downloaded through www. environmentalscience.bayer.com.au.