Irene took a different path to the farm. She earned a double major in economics and Soviet and East European studies from the University of Texas and an MBA from Eastern New Mexico University. In 1999, she “returned to her roots and entered into the turfgrass business with Willie and William.” The soil profiles of the sod farms Horizon owned at that point were native soils ranging from a river loam to the traditional Texas black gumbo, matching the soils of the region closest to each site.
Targeting Markets Irene saw a need for a sand-based farm in the west Houston area to better serve the golf, sports field and premier property markets. She seized the op- portunity to launch the Brookshire farm in 2000, forming a partnership with Willie in what is now All Seasons Turf Grass. As sister companies, All Seasons and Horizon work hand-in- hand to serve the overall market, while concentrating their efforts on different market segments.
All Seasons grows Raleigh St. Au- gustine, Tifway 419 and Celebration bermudagrass, and Palisades, Zeon and L1F zoysiagrass. Horizon grows a broader list of varieties across the range of farms. As part of the Harmony Brands network, a sizeable percentage of their production is grown to that program’s specifications and delivered to the participating big box home improvement stores. In response to increased zoysiagrass sales, All Seasons added sand-based sod production at the Sealy Farm and grows zoysiagrass and bermudagrass varieties there. All of the farms’ grasses are certified by the Texas Department of Agriculture. Both All Seasons and Horizon can sell the grasses from any of the sites to provide exactly what their customers need, when they need it.
Irene married Scott Sipes in October of 2010. He joined the family business, focusing on his areas of expertise—
20
sales and project management—with the goal of earning a larger share of the elite turfgrass market.
Golf course superintendents and sports turf managers are much like sod producers, they talk turfgrass and share business ideas. So, while building sales is seldom a speedy process, All Seasons has moved beyond the early days of begging for opportunities to bid on jobs. Scott says, “We provided the sod for River Oaks Country Club in Houston. We provided the sod for The Oaks golf course in the Houston Oaks Family Sports Retreat in Hock- ley, a suburb 35 miles west of down- town Houston. That drew attention and opened more doors for us.”
A major switch took place in 2014. Tiger Woods chose sod from All Seasons for the first golf course he has designed in the U.S., Bluejack National. Woods selected Zeon and L1F zoysiagrass varieties for the 18-hole course, which is located in the Hous- ton suburb of Montgomery. Scott says, “Delivery started in January of 2015. The course handled the installation, with folks from the developer and the Tiger Woods Design team overseeing that process.”
On the sports turf side, All Seasons also has supplied sod for the Hous- ton Dynamo soccer fields and MLB’s
Houston Astros, and they’re growing grass for a couple NFL teams.
Working the Farms Each site has a farm manager, their own harvesters, and all the other equipment needed to handle produc- tion for that farm. That results in an overall mix of equipment in which, as Scott notes, nearly all of the major manufacturers are represented. He says, “We can move equipment among the farms and do if the demands re- quire it.” All of the equipment mainte- nance is done in-house.
Harvesting is always slabs on the St. Augustine and predominantly slabs on the bermudas and zoysias. They do harvest some of those two grasses as mini-rolls, 3-4 feet long, and some of them from the sand-based sites as big rolls. All Seasons does a limited num- ber of installations, only on the small to medium type projects. They do have a big roll installer and an operator skilled at using it.
The Texas climate allows year-round harvesting, with the peak season run- ning from early March through the end of May. Staffing levels, for all nine of the farms, range from around 80 at the height of the season down to the mid-60s during the winter months.
All Seasons has a small office on site.
Irene serves as office director and fills the CFO role, working from the All Seasons Turf Grass office pictured here. But she’ll also jump on a forklift to load a truck for pick up orders.
TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68