The Benefits of Disease Control for Lawn Care Customers

Course Summary:

This course will focus on the use and benefits of implementing pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides in lawn care programs for customers. The discussion will begin with survey results from lawn care professionals on how many customers are receiving a disease control program, what diseases are being targeted, and the products being used. The course will provide information on sprayable and granular products registered for lawn care use and the benefits that homeowner customers will derive from being on a disease control program. Further topics include how some fungicides can deliver plant health benefits (drought, heat and cold tolerance) in turf and ornamentals in addition to disease control, the use of pre-emergents in turf and ornamentals, herbicide options during seeding time, proper storage of pesticides, and how to determine if a pesticide is safe to use if old or subjected to freezing temperatures. The course will conclude with an introduction to targeted herbicide options for difficult to control weeds in turf such as crabgrass, dallisgrass, and Bermudagrass.

About the Instructor:

Kyle Miller is a Senior Technical Specialist for BASF’s Turf and Ornamental group for the northern region. He has been with BASF for over 30 years and is responsible for bringing new products to market, discovering market opportunities for existing products, providing training to distributors and turf managers, and preparing technical and sales materials for the T&O sales force. Kyle has a Bachelor of Science from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science from Auburn University in Turfgrass Science.