Visitors from M-Grass Beijing on a BioMeadow sod field at the Vernon farm meet with Warren and Clark Bell and Don Heslop (on the far right) and Dr. Landon Bunderson (on the far left).
ucts. BioGrass also offers the Sustane line of organic fertilizers, freshly- harvested sod and their proprietary turfgrass seed at the Sandy site. “We’ll sell several truckloads of sod on a busy day there,” says Warren. “People know where we are and that we have a good supply of good quality products. We make 20 percent or more of our total sales through the Sandy operation.”
Turfgrass Sod
and Seed Products The BioGrass marketing area is the Intermountain West, basically the valley floor and the foothills leading up to the mountains. It’s a challeng- ing region, typically with abundant sunshine, low humidity, and large temperature swings both daily and seasonally, in part influenced by the thinner air at high elevations that is quicker to heat up and cool down. The cool season extends from October to March or April, with much of the precipitation during that period com- ing as snow. According to Warren, the science behind BioGrass sod and seed products goes beyond beautiful surface characteristics to adaptation to climatic and other environmental conditions, including formulating water-efficient seed mixtures. The BioGrass team applies the latest in turf science to develop specifically designed seed mixtures to fill the varied uses of their broad customer base.
BioGrass grows a wide range of grasses which incorporate a variety of species and cultivars. The products are propri-
38
Warren and Clark fly fishing with long-time friend Dr. Guy Muto (left) at the Madison River near Ennis, Montana in September of 2014.
etary, often named for the functions they fill, such as BioShade or BioPlay, or the grasses they contain, such as BioBlue. For a complete listing, go to the website:
www.biograss.com.
Their BioMeadow product is a mix of short prairie grasses and fine fescues, developed for low input and low maintenance. It’s for people who want a medium-height, no-mow mixture for a portion of their property; basically a grass site that is not a cultivated lawn.
BioNative is made up of wheat grasses. They’re not a lawn grass and don’t have a tolerance for low mowing. BioNative was developed for low water usage xeriscape applications, where the client wants grassscape aesthetics to fit in nicely with shrubs and a variety of non-woody perennial plants, includ- ing perennial flowers. “Part of what is valued is the seedhead,” says Warren.
BioGrass grows BioNative as sod so the customer doesn’t have to fight through the initial soil modification, seeding and weeding. The customer irrigates and gets the sod established the first year it is down and it then reverts to a natural, medium-height, low-maintenance prairie grass. Warren says, “When we go back in after that first year to check the site, we can see exactly what the architect envisioned and it is stunning.”
Compared to their total acreage sold, BioNative is a fairly small market seg- ment, according to Warren. “I antici- pate that percentage will continue to grow as the population grows.” He
The Biograss booth drew the most visitors at the annual Home and Garden show in Sandy. It’s the annual BioGrass launching point for their retail direct-to-homeowner sales.
calls developing the product “a blast” and notes they’re continually improv- ing it. (See the article, “Developing New Low Maintenance Turf Crops,” pages 49-51, in the July/August 2015 issue of Turf News for more details on the development process.)
As Warren’s TPI-related committee terms wound down, his research and development program at BioGrass ramped up. He says, “We’re evaluating hundreds of different grasses that are adapted to the BioNative look. We’re also developing some other native grasses and some new turfgrasses that demonstrate low water use.”
It’s simply in his DNA to never stop learning. He’s excited by a challenge; it’s his intellectual curiosity that spurs his research.
With the sod farm, they look for niches they can fill that will generate profits. Warren says, “When we see an opportu- nity for a potential market, we’ll invest some resources to explore it. I don’t believe in failure. Often it’s something we learned from a venture that didn’t go well that becomes a bridge that takes us to the next step. When we exercise good judgement and good business practices, give every venture our best effort, and never sacrifice our values for a quick dollar, it all pays off. And it’s exciting because there’s something new to figure out tomorrow. I see the next problem as an awesome opportunity.”
Another area of concentration for War- ren is the Aqua-Yield venture. He says, “As a start-up company, it’s working
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