UTA stops sale of ArmorTech ALT 70 fungicide

On June 5, United Turf Alliance (UTA) issued a voluntary stop-sale notice for ArmorTech ALT 70 fungicide. Customers may return the product for full credit.

The product, manufactured by Tessenderlo Kerley, is a systemic fungicide with the active ingredient fosetyl-aluminium. It’s labeled for use on golf courses, sod farms and commercial turf areas.

An investigation is underway with cooperators at Rutgers University and the University of Rhode Island to review use patterns, programs and their effects on turf.

In an email from the New Jersey Turfgrass Association, Bruce Clarke, Ph.D., from the Center for Turfgrass Science at Rutgers, said the product “has been associated recently with extensive turf loss on a number of golf courses in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.”

UTA hasn’t concluded the product affected turf, but said it began its investigation last week following visits at two golf courses that reported “compromised turf” after mixing ArmorTech ALT 70 in multiple-product spray programs on bentgrass/Poa putting greens, collars and approaches.