5) Do you charge any additional fees for cooled sod?
One of the growers adds a small surcharge for cooled sod, and the other grower cools all of their sod and has the cooling cost already included in their sod price. 6) Any other thoughts? Any customer feedback?
Darin says that his garden center customers will place larger orders now since they know that they can sell the product for longer before it spoils. He also has customers who insist on always purchasing cooled sod after trying it since they feel that it roots more quickly and provides a better product for their end users.
Both growers say that they no longer need to use reefer trucks for long distance shipping. Once the pallet is cooled, it stays cool for a long time since the core of the pallet is just above freezing.
Another added benefit is the ability to pre-cut and store sod for same-day orders. Tis avoids having to have a cutting crew on standby for when customers show up for sod without pre-ordering. Cooled sod can last several days, even in summer, and it is also possible to cool sod a second time to even further extend its shelf life.
Tese coolers are a very effective way to address the issue of sod shelf life and surely improve the quality of the product that can be produced. It is up to the grower to determine if this benefit is worth the investment. When you take into account the upfront cost, power consumption, and handling, my best estimate is between 2 and 3 cents per square foot for 1000 cycles per year, which is very significant.
I suspect that it depends on the application and end-user; if you are selling high volume and low price sod to tract housing developments, this likely will not make sense financially since the cooling cost will outweigh any added price the customer will pay or any efficiency gain. Conversely, if you are selling specialty sod to retail, garden centers, or are frequently delivering longer distances, the added shelf life may be worth the cost and allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors and charge more for a higher quality product.
Palletized sod being cooled at H&E Sod Nursery. Photo courtesy of H&E Sod Nursery
Jack Warpinski is the general manager at Central Sod Farms, Inc., based at the company's Centreville, Maryland, location. He has been managing the operation for the past 15 years. He can be contacted by email at
jack@centralsodmd.com.
TPI Turf News January/February 2025 53
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