As turf managers face increasing pressure to maintain healthy, high-performing turf while combating disease and weed challenges, having the right tools in the toolbox can make all the difference.
This year, Helena Agri-Enterprises expanded its specialty portfolio with the introduction of Tycoon® Pro and Retaliate™. While designed to address different challenges, both products share a common goal: providing customers with innovative solutions that improve performance and simplify management programs.
According to Dr. Michael Cox, Specialty Brand Manager at Helena Products Group, every new product begins with identifying a need in the field.
"First and foremost, you've got to have a need from the field," says Dr. Cox. "There's not really a lot of purpose in creating a new brand or a new product if there's not demand for it at the customer level."
Tycoon Pro is Helena's newest fungicide for golf course turf managers. Built on two proven active ingredients, azoxystrobin and difenoconazole, Tycoon Pro combines multiple modes-of-action with Helena's Protecta® Formulation Technology to enhance uptake and performance.
The result is broad-spectrum disease control designed to help turf managers protect both cool- and warm-season turf from a wide range of common diseases, such as anthracnose, brown patch, dollar spot and take-all patch, while supporting overall turf health.
Dr. Cox describes Tycoon Pro as a potential cornerstone product for disease management programs.
"It performs great. Disease control is superb, turf safety is top notch, and it's a great tool to have in the toolbox for a wide variety of issues, from environmental stress to diseases."
While Tycoon Pro focuses on disease protection, Retaliate was developed to tackle another major turf management challenge: stubborn broadleaf weeds.
Built on the success of Helena's long-standing Battleship® III herbicide, Retaliate adds sulfentrazone to an already proven formulation of MCPA, fluroxypyr and triclopyr, delivering an additional mode-of-action and faster visible activity on troublesome weeds.
The enhanced formulation provides broad-spectrum control of difficult-to-manage broadleaf weeds, including ground ivy, plantains and violets, that often require sequential applications with traditional programs.
"We took a product that was performing very well in that segment, targeting these hard-to-control broadleaf weeds, and we made it better," says Dr. Cox.
Both products reflect Helena's commitment to continuous improvement and customer-focused innovation. Whether refining existing technologies or introducing new solutions, the goal remains the same: helping customers achieve better results in the field.
"We don't take products that we've currently commercialized in the past and just say that they're good enough," says Dr. Cox. "We look for ways to improve and better ourselves to give the customer the best in the business."
As the specialty industry continues to evolve, products like Tycoon Pro and Retaliate demonstrate Helena's ongoing commitment to developing practical, effective solutions that help customers meet today's challenges while preparing for tomorrow's opportunities.
To learn more about how Tycoon Pro and Retaliate can fit into your turf management program, contact your local Helena representative. For additional insights from Dr. Michael Cox, tune into Episode 4 of the FieldLink Specialty Podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen.