Quali-Pro’s Suprado “Touches ’em all” with a traveling tour.
When a new chemistry and mode of action for a pest as damaging as the annual bluegrass weevil (ABW) comes along, it deserves a proper major league debut. And that’s just what Suprado got as Quali-Pro celebrated the EPA-approved insecticide with events at two Major League ballparks and one professional raceway.
“We felt that launching a new mode of action against a super invasive pest was critical to generate the initial buzz,” says Allan Fulcher, vice president of turf for Quali-Pro. “Once Suprado gets in the superintendents’ hands, the product will create its own buzz.”
Golfdom joined Quali-Pro on this Major League tour to learn more about the product and hear what experts and superintendents had to say about Suprado and what it could mean to the industry.
Green monsters
The Suprado tour visited iconic Fenway Park in Boston twice, PNC Park in Pittsburgh and the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, N.J.
Visitors to Fenway were given a behind-the-scenes tour of “America’s most beloved ballpark.” The group got to watch batting practice from atop the famed Green Monster, then walked through the park’s Hall of Fame and saw the park’s rooftop garden. A group of attendees then got a question-and-answer session with longtime Fenway head groundskeeper David Mellor before settling in for a 11-9 Red Sox victory over the Minnesota Twins.
At the PNC Park event in Pittsburgh, attendees were slated to take batting practice and field fly balls at the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. But as superintendents know all too well, Mother Nature can change the best laid plans — who knows, maybe Mother Nature saved someone’s ACL this time — when that part of the program got rained out. Attendees still were treated to dinner and a panel discussion featuring Ben McGraw, Ph.D., Penn State University, Ian Rodriguez, Ph.D., Technical Services Manager, Quali-Pro, and Dave Delsandro, director of grounds at Oakmont CC. A cameo was made by Golfdom Editor-in-Chief Seth Jones, who gave away two Quali-Pro sponsored “golden tickets” to the 2021 Goldom Summit.
Finally, at the Xtreme Xperience event at New Jersey Motorsports Park, attendees were allowed to jump in the driver’s seats of some of the fastest sports cars known to man. A Lamborghini Huracan and a Ferrari 488 GTB — a $350,000 car — were two of the vehicles available. Attendees were told to punch it full throttle on the straightaways and drive as fast as they could, and every car came back to the finish line in the same condition it was driven off in.
But all this celebrating of Suprado couldn’t be done without first taking care of some business and learning more about the insect growth regulator.
Built different
At the Fenway Park event, Ben McGraw took to the stage just a little late (he managed to get trapped in a locked stairwell) but in time to tell attendees about what he has seen when it comes to how Suprado can treat ABW differently than other products.
“It’s an insect growth regulator … it reduces the integrity of the insect’s cuticle,” McGraw explained. “All insects have an exoskeleton. If it’s going to get bigger, they have to bust through that. It’s an energy-expensive process and a lot of things can go wrong. This is where (Suprado) works and it’s totally different from how other chemistries work.”
McGraw added that Suprado, powered by insect growth regulator Novaluron, treats ABW in overlapping lifecycles. It has demonstrated control in all larvae stages, both when found in and out of the plant. When applied to adults, Suprado hinders the ability to lay eggs.
For a pest that prefers the shorter mowed, high-visibility areas, Suprado is a welcome addition for superintendents, especially considering solutions have been limited over the years. ABW populations are developing resistance; as far back as 2006 pyrethroids started showing resistance; in 2009 diamides and oxadiazines also starting showing resistance.
“This insect is incredibly difficult to manage, this one is built differently than other pests,” McGraw said. “ABW is far more challenging from a biological standpoint, and it likes to hide.”
In Pittsburgh, Ian Rodriguez, Ph.D., Technical Services Manager for Quali-Pro, spoke about how Novaluron has been in the Quali-Pro arsenal for some time, sold on the company’s pest control side. It was in 2019 when it was suggested to the company by an entomologist that it could be an excellent tool for turf pests. The resulting field tests showed that Suprado offers excellent control in small, medium and large larvae of ABW.
“We expect Suprado will raise our profile, it’s really the first A.I. we’ve launched in the Quali-Pro line before anybody else,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll continue to look at other avenues that are available to us through the pipeline we have available through (parent company) Adama.”
The sledgehammer
Logan Freeman, superintendent at Mountain Branch GC in Joppa, Md., said he was excited about having a new tool in the toolbox for a pest that ranks at the top of his insect stress chart. He was given an opportunity to test Suprado in a field trial at his course and he said the results were promising.
“(ABW) is the most important pest that I manage against. For me, if I don’t control ABW correctly in the spring, it can throw off my entire year,” he said. “The control that they show here and when I tested it is promising. I’m looking forward to using it to see how it improves my golf course and takes the pressure off of the control of that one pest that can do so much damage … it will allow me to maybe control it, whether it’s fewer apps or just a different A.I. that they haven’t seen before.”
Michael Bostian, superintendent, Waverly Woods GC, Marriottsville, Md., hadn’t tried Suprado yet but said he was excited after seeing the cost and the price per acre for what has been a costly pest for his course.
“When you find out more about the longevity and the window of the application it makes it sound like a home-run,” Bostian said. “The most exciting thing is being able to target the adults and time that peak activity, and knowing that we are going to get success in thinning out that population and reducing the amount of reproductive possibilities from those adults.”
Freeman added that having a new product that offers longer control and more flexibility than what was the previous industry standard can make his job easier.
“I know I’m putting a heavy hitter down and then if I need to do something different rotational down the road, I have that flexibility. But I feel like I’m going to be starting off on a lot better foot with Suprado than maybe what I have currently,” he says. “As a superintendent it’s all about tools in the toolbox and the more tools you have gives you the ability to manage things better. Suprado might be the sledgehammer for ABW because I think it has the potential to really level the playing field and be a very useful tool.”
This page was produced by North Coast Media’s content marketing staff in collaboration with the Golfdom staff and sponsor of the page, Quali-Pro. NCM Content Marketing connects marketers to audiences and delivers industry trends, business tips and product information.
Header photo: Golfdom Staff