Enhanced dollar spot alerts now available from Syngenta

To help golf course superintendents monitor for dollar spot, the most prevalent disease on courses nationwide, Syngenta has enhanced its dollar spot alerts. Based on the Smith-Kerns Dollar Spot Model, the alerts now offer season-long text and email notifications plus the ability to forecast disease development risk five days into the future. Superintendents may sign up at GreenCastOnline.com/DollarSpot to be notified by email or text, when conditions in their area are conducive to dollar spot development. 

 

“Syngenta is always researching not only new products, but also new digital technologies to help superintendents manage their turf,” said Stephanie Schwenke, turf market manager at Syngenta. “By working with the researchers who developed the original dollar spot model, Syngenta was able to digitize the model, bringing convenience and automation to superintendents.” 

 

The dollar spot prediction model was developed by Dr. Damon Smith, associate professor and extension specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Dr. Jim Kerns, associate professor and extension specialist, NC State University, along with researchers in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Tennessee, Connecticut and New Jersey. It uses weather indicators to predict when conditions will be conducive for dollar spot development. 

 

“The model itself is basically a logistic equation that you plug in the parameters, such as relative humidity, mean and max air temps, as well as how much risk you're willing to take – 20, 30, 40 percent, whatever it might be,” Kerns said. “Essentially it spits out a probability of whether or not you're going to have disease. One of the things we are most proud of is it allows superintendents at their own facility to decide for themselves how much risk they are willing to accept. In our research, we found that 20 percent was the most accurate prediction.” 

 

Once a superintendent signs up, they will receive their first notification of the season when dollar spot pressure in their area is forecasted to reach a 20 percent risk threshold in the next five days, which will help them prepare for a preventive fungicide application. After the first alert, superintendents can also elect to be notified of their dollar spot risk on 7-, 14-, 21- or 28-day intervals.