Syngenta enhances WeevilTrak for improved annual bluegrass weevil management

Syngenta has added several new updates to WeevilTrak™, the interactive online monitoring tool for annual bluegrass weevil (ABW) tracking and control recommendations. The enhancements include a research blog updated in real time, new ABW research sites (including two sites in North Carolina) and the addition of Ference™ insecticide to the Syngenta Optimum Control Strategy.
 
New WeevilTrak Blog
By registering for WeevilTrak, golf course superintendents will have access to blog posts and receive emails from researchers they select throughout the spring and summer. New for 2015, the WeevilTrak Blog will provide live updates from the field to improve ABW tracking and recommended solutions all season long.
 
“The variability of ABW, from when they first appear to how they rapidly reproduce, can be frustrating for superintendents trying to control them,” says Mike Agnew, Ph.D., field technical manager with Syngenta. “The WeevilTrak Blog is a valuable new resource that brings live scouting and research to their fingertips. This tool provides superintendents with the latest information from the WeevilTrak researchers on their findings of ABW progressing in the field.”
 
Expanded Research Sites
Now WeevilTrak also delivers a more comprehensive, geographical look at ABW pressure throughout the Northeast and in areas where ABW populations are spreading such as into Ohio and North Carolina. Several new golf courses have been added to the existing program for improved tracking accuracy. Two new researchers, Rick Brandenburg, Ph.D., from North Carolina State University and Albert Koppenhöfer, Ph.D., from Rutgers University, have joined the program.
 
Season-long Control with Ference
Registered users will also benefit from the addition of Ference to the Optimum Control Strategy. Applying Ference at 12 fl oz/A can help provide systemic control of ABW at all larval stages (1st-5th instar), and control asynchronous larvae populations that may be present in the summer generations from June to September. Along with Scimitar® GC, Acelepryn® and Provaunt® insecticides, Ference greatly enhances the Syngenta Optimum Control Strategy to help golf course superintendents better achieve season-long control of ABW.
 
“Unfortunately there is not one silver bullet for controlling ABW,” explains Pat Willenbrock, insecticide brand manager for Syngenta. “However, with the addition of Ference to the Optimum Control Strategy, superintendents now have a complete program approach for controlling multiple generations of ABW throughout the season.”