Bayer leading the way in innovation at BTME 2013

Ralph Dickinsonin Industry News

page 2 ­ bottle on golf courseBTME 2013 was host to the launch of Bayer's innovative new turf fungicide Interface™. Building on the trusted excellence of Chipco® Green, a staple fungicide in any greenkeeper's repertoire, Bayer have improved upon this market leading product and formulated a truly superior* product, proving that they are leaders in innovation.

Introducing StressGard™ Formulation Technology

Bayer is proud to introduce the UK's first turf fungicide with the company's innovative StressGard™ Formulation Technology. This new optimised formulation has taken over 15 years of Research and Development and has been specifically developed to support Turf Managers in their quest to achieve the ultimate playing experience.

Tailor-made for sports turf, the formulation has been fine tuned to upgrade the performance of the product, providing superior* disease control leading to visibly healthier turf.

Interface™ delivers unsurpassed* disease control

Independent trials carried out by the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) on Fusarium patch, Dollar Spot and Red Thread have shown that Interface™ outperforms other market leading turf fungicides (see Figure 1 and Figure 2).

Not only does Interface™ deliver unsurpassed* disease control against 6 key turf diseases but the StressGard™ Formulation Technology helps the turf to thrive under disease stress conditions. Interface™ alleviates disease stress improving quality leading to visibly healthier turf.

But what do the Turf Managers think?

In addition to STRI trials, Bayer has conducted nearly 40 field trials with Golf Course Managers, Greenkeepers and Spraying Operators to ensure that their new fungicide will meet their needs in the real working environment. It is through close collaboration with Turf Managers that Bayer can develop products which address unmet customer and market needs.

Steve PrivettIn a year when Fusarium patch has been a serious problem, Steve Privett, golf course manager at Alresford Golf Club and one of the early product triallists, decided to treat three greens out of the eighteen on his golf course with Interface™; the rest were treated with his regular fungicide. "In order to give it a fair trial, I applied the product to the greens which are most susceptible to fusarium in early spring," says Steve.

"I applied a second treatment about six weeks later and over the June bank holiday the disease on the three trial greens vanished; whereas fusarium appeared as two inch scars on the greens that hadn't been sprayed with Interface™.

The trial turf recovered very well, potentially quicker than normal, which I think is evidence of the StressGard™ Formulation Technology doing its job."

Dorin Pop, Bayer's Technical Manager stated: "With preventative, curative and eradicant properties, Interface™ can be used at any stage of disease and at any time of the year offering Turf Managers complete flexibility."

He continued: "Bayer's mission is to help Greenkeepers to achieve better playability. This means controlling turf disease, managing turf stress and maintaining turf quality."

Finally, Product Manager, Claire Matthewman commented: "Interface™ offers a new standard in turf protection and is an exciting addition to our turf fungicide portfolio. We anticipate that it will quickly become the mainstay fungicide in the turf professional's armoury against turf disease." She continued: "Bayer is proud to use BTME 2013 as their launch platform. An exciting new product needs an exciting stage, and BTME was the obvious choice. The entire Bayer team is looking forward to "interfacing" with visitors to the show about our latest product innovation, Interface™. Come along to our stand C60, Hall C to join in on our celebrations and enter the prize draw to win a year's worth of free turf fungicide!"

Interface™ is available in a 5L pack, and can be purchased from February 2013 through all major distributors.

This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

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