It is unlikely that superintendents give a great deal of thought to all the time, energy and resources involved in bringing to market products used to manage golf courses. Each product that makes it to the marketplace is the result of years of research and millions spent in development that leave literally hundreds of thousands of other formulations on the cutting room floor.
"It's a fascinating and incredibly complex process that takes a lot of teamwork," Lane Tredway, Ph.D., technical representative for Syngenta, said during a virtual Syngenta product launch event July 30.
"We need to eliminate the ones that won't work as quickly as possible, so we can get the ones that do work to market as quickly as possible."
On Thursday, Syngenta launched three fungicides - Ascernity, Posterity XT and Posterity Forte - for long-lasting control of diseases like dollar spot, spring dead spot, anthracnose and large patch on golf course turf.
Ascernity is a combination product that includes SDHI technology from the foliar fungicide Solatenol (benzovindiflupyr) with DMI technology of difenoconazole for control of foliar diseases such as anthracnose and brown patch.
It carries no heat restrictions, even in summer.
Posterity XT and Posterity Forte combine three active ingredients, pydiflumetofen (Adepidyn), propiconazole and azoxystrobin from FRAC groups 7, 3 and 11, respectively. Posterity Forte is labeled for control of brown patch, dollar spot, large patch, leaf spot, spring dead spot and zoysia patch in warm- and cool-season turf. Posterity XT provides up to 28 days of control of nearly 30 turf diseases, including anthracnose, brown patch, dollar spot, spring dead spot and summer patch in cool-season turf.
We need to eliminate the ones that won't work as quickly as possible, so we can get the ones that do work to market as quickly as possible.
While launching a stable of new products now comes with its inherent challenges, tough summer conditions make the timing otherwise perfect, said Syngenta technical manager Mike Agnew, Ph.D.
"The disease pressure this summer, is the worst I've seen since 2011 and 2012," Agnew said. "Turf always looks better when the weather is good. We're launching products in the worst weather conditions in years."
All three products will be available for sale in August.
The R&D channel is a long, long road.
As many as 150,000 potential compounds per year enter the pipeline. That list eventually is whittled down to several thousand then several dozen before. Ultimately, it takes about eight years and as much as $300 million for one product to emerge from the process and eventually make it to market.
Syngenta's technical services team also has developed agronomic programs that rotate these fungicides with other products. To find recommendations for incorporating Ascernity, Posterity XT and Posterity Forte into an existing agronomic program, visit GreenCastOnline.com/Programs.
"The technology doesn't have to stop (with new products)," said Syngenta turf market manager Stephanie Schwenke. "We don't just focus on the chemistry; we also know that it is important to golf course superintendents to support them with application technology."