Q&A WITH Larry Lennert

1What do you want superintendents who are not familiar with AMVAC Environmental Products to know about your company?

AMVAC Environmental Products (AEP) supplies proven and innovative products that help pest control, public health and turfgrass professionals be more successful. We are a business unit of AMVAC Chemical Corporation, an American Vanguard Corporation company, which is U.S.-based and publicly traded (NYSE: AVD).

For the golf course industry, we offer a growing portfolio of herbicide, insecticide, fungicide and fumigant products. We know that superintendents are constantly challenged to accomplish more with less. The golf market is extremely competitive, and superintendents who choose our products can rest assured that they’ll get the results they need at an excellent value.

2Does AEP have any unique chemistries and products?

Absolutely, and we continue to seek out new chemistries and develop innovative formulations that can help make superintendents’ jobs easier.

The proprietary chemistry we’re best known for in the golf turf industry is pentachloronitrobenzene, or PCNB for short. Besides being a multi-site contact fungicide, PCNB is the only FRAC Code 14 fungicide available for use on golf turf, making it a very valuable fungicide resistance management tool. PCNB is widely recognized as the most effective single active ingredient for control of all three major snow mold pathogens. More recently, PCNB has been shown to be one of the most effective active ingredients for control of anthracnose as well. There are four PCNB-based AEP fungicides: two granular – FF III® (PCNB, chlorothalonil, propiconazole) and Turfcide® 10G (PCNB) – as well as two liquid – PREMION® (PCNB + tebuconazole) and Turfcide® 400 (PCNB).

Earlier this year, we introduced SUREPYC IQ™, a new herbicide for warm-season turfgrasses that contains a unique combination of imazaquin and sulfentrazone. SUREPYC IQ is exceptionally effective on tough-to-control Kyllingas and purple nutsedge.

While turfgrass management is extremely important, we realize that golf courses also face other types of challenges, including pest control. Our NUVAN® Prostrips® provide simple and effective control of numerous insect pests on golf courses, keeping irrigation control boxes, pump houses and storage areas free of ants, flies, spiders and stinging insects for up to four months.

3It’s mid-October and snow mold fungicides will be applied soon. What are the best ways to use PCNB in snow mold control programs?

As AEP’s Midwest sales manager and a Wisconsin native, I’ve certainly seen the toll that snow mold can take on golf course turf. I’ve found that one of the best and easiest ways to incorporate PCNB into a snow mold control program is to use Turfcide 400 instead of chlorothalonil as the contact fungicide component in snow mold fungicide mixtures. PCNB consistently outperforms chlorothalonil in snow mold field trials, so you will achieve substantially better snow mold protection simply by making this switch.

Another great way to use PCNB in your snow mold control program is to use one of the four Turfcide 400 snow mold fungicide programs in our 2020 Turfcide 400 Snow Mold Assurance Program. Download the 2020 Turfcide 400 Snow Mold Assurance Program at www.amvac.com/aep-snowmold.

4It’s also Early Order season. What’s new about your THREEBATE 2020 EOP and how does it work?

We simplified our EOP this year – no order minimums, no forms to complete, and no invoices to submit. We know there are many early order programs out there, and we wanted to show our dedication to this market by making our program simpler and more lucrative for golf courses across the United States.

We’re now offering more products to choose from and have increased rebates on most of our insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Our THREEBATE 2020 EOP runs from October 1 – December 18, 2020. Purchase any of the eligible products and earn rebates in the form of a distributor credit to your account in 2021. Learn more at www.amvac.com/EOP.

5What should superintendents expect to see from AMVAC Environmental Products in the future?

We’re committed to increasing our support of the golf turf industry and the superintendents who work hard to keep their courses looking good. We want to help superintendents design the best possible turfgrass management programs for plant health and playability that their owners, members, and daily fee patrons alike will appreciate. We’ll continue identifying better ways to use proven compounds while developing new technologies and effective “low-impact” solutions that are made in the USA. Stay tuned!