A Balanced Approach

There are a lot of agronomic programs out there for superintendents to consider. One of the more interesting (and detailed) is the Balanced Approach Program offered by Harrell’s, a Lakeland, Fla company that has been in operation since 1941.

The program takes into account all agronomic inputs that golf course superintendents utilize to provide great golf course greens. These include water and irrigation, soil health, wetting agents, granular fertilization, foliar fertilization and pest protectants (from nematodes, disease or insects).
 
With these inputs in mind, Harrell’s came up with a plan to encompass all of them into one program. A program they have aptly named the Balanced Approach Program.

I talked with one of the masterminds behind this plan, Dr. Raymond Snyder, Harrell’s Director of Agronomy. He credited both sales reps and sales directors for helping develop the program. Folks out in the field, talking daily with superintendents.

“The program was developed to scientifically analyze the integration of our various strategies,” Raymond said. “Put together as a holistic program. We often see programs that address certain needs. But never before have we put together a program that encompasses all of our programs under one umbrella.”
The Harrell’s Balanced Approach Program is a prescription for year-long nutrition, basically breaks down a superintendent’s needs into five key areas.  These are:

• Granular Fertilizers 
• Wetting Agents 
• Liquid Nutritionals and Soil Amendments
• Adjuvants and Colorant
• Harrell’s Plant Protectant Program

Jason Frank is a Harrell’s Regional Director in Florida and a bit of an expert on the program as well. At the recent 29th Annual Otto Schmeisser Turfgrass Industry Exposition in Florida, he gave a talk to some turfheads specifically on the Balanced Approach Plan. 

“We have software within Harrell’s,” he said, “and tools available for our reps, that allow us to generate a plan that encompasses everything (all those inputs listed above) and tries to foresee all the applications.”

He explains how the plan looks at all the granular inputs, foliar inputs, soil programs, fungicide programs, and how to maximize these in the best most efficient manner possible. Planning instead of reacting.

“We really want to couple these inputs,” he said, “so you’re making no more than two applications per week. This really becomes beneficial when things start to get tight for labor, or you start to get a lot of golf play. You can help yourself in other ways than just agronomically.”

And how are superintendents liking the program? By all accounts it is a big hit.
 
“The reception has been extremely positive,” Raymond Snyder said. “What superintendents really like is our approach to looking at this holistically. They have also found value in Harrell’s testing and vetting the program at academic institutions. So many of our competitors have programs that are not supported by science.”

The science behind Harrell’s Balanced Approach Program came from trials at the University of Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. The principal investigator in the program was Dr. Travis Shaddox. 

The project began in the fall of 2016, the intent to compare the Harrell’s idea of a year long program to that of a standard fertilizer program; in this case on a Tifeagle bermudagrass green. The trial ran through the early part of this year.

In reviewing the trials in a December 2017 article, Jason Frank was more than pleased with the results. He wrote, “In this trial, annual program planning, consistent applications and considerations for soil health, fertilization and pest prevention provided greater and more consistent quality, NDVI, root length, surface area, root volume and root weight than the industry standard.”

He added that, “Agronomic annual planning can provide greater and more consistent results and be more economical than inconsistent applications that provide potential for plant stress and disease.”

I asked Raymond Snyder how he thought the program was stacking up against industry standards?

“So far we have outperformed industry standard programs,” he said. “When I say outperformed, I mean on surface observations of turf color and quality.”

I’d have to say the main takeaway I got after talking with some of the Harrell’s people is that the Balanced Approach Program is not a ‘One size fits all’ type of program. It is definitely tailored to each individual user and golf course.

When I was talking to Raymond he explained it to me this way: “I just came from a seminar where I talked about the program with about 50 turf managers,” he said. “I told them what I always tell turf professionals and superintendents, and that is to consider the Balanced Approach Program as a foundation template. We will tailor it to your specific needs. I always caution people to not just blindly follow our program. We will work with you, the program serving as a foundation for agronomic inputs. But everyone will be slightly different.”

I asked Raymond how many does he think are on the Balanced Approach Program?

“I don’t know how many exactly,” he said,” but literally thousands of users are on a variance of the program at some level. Again, designed for their specific needs.” 

Harrell’s has attempted to regionalize the program, doing studies at both Clemson and Rutgers.

“Basically we are creating regional subsets to the program,” Raymond said. “Regionalizing the inputs. It can work anywhere.”

About the author
Ron Furlong is a golf writer and frequent GCI contributor.