At the time of this writing in mid-May, the weather pattern in Oregon appears to be cooperating with our production farmers. We have sunny and warm weather for about a week, and then we have moisture. Truly perfect conditions at the moment have allowed for good fertilization and eradication of many pesky undesirables— with the exception of Poa annua and rough bluegrass which have been developing resistance to herbicides over the years. While these undesirables can be taken out mechanically during the cleaning process, we anticipate cleaner crops originating out of the eastern Oregon and eastern Washington production areas.


Kentucky bluegrass is produced in Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, and Northern Idaho. Within these regions, it’s further broken down to dryland and irrigated production areas. Bluegrass is very finicky, and in the dryland areas, won’t produce seed the first year. We have been battling other crops like potatoes, dairy feed and other higher priced commodities for many years. It appears that the tables have finally begun to turn with new Kentucky bluegrass plantings.


Seed heads have begun to develop across all species, and with continued moderate temperatures, it is reasonable to anticipate average to good yields. With the reduction of grass producing acres in prior years, this year might just be the year that would bring us par with average consumption.


Turf type tall fescue production acreage has increased in Oregon to better accommodate growing demand. It’s important to remember that baby fields typically only produce up to about half of what mature fields yield. With little to no carryover of sod quality seed, fall shipments will be totally reliant on new crop availability.


Acreage of Kentucky bluegrass has also been increased, and like tall fescue, those baby fields in dryland areas don’t produce much seed that first year. We expect Kentucky bluegrass to remain a strong market—especially for early fall 2018 shipments.


Fine Fescue is also seeing an uptick in production acreage as inventories have all been depleted.


Perennial ryegrass acres in Oregon have been reduced due to remaining inventories of product. Perennial ryegrasses are also grown in other areas such as Canada and Minnesota, and New Zealand, which has led to carryover.


We Oregonians have been preaching about hazelnuts and blueberries—long term production investments in fields that had once been in grass and other crops. Here’s a recap of where we are.


While Hazelnuts have been producing in the Willamette Valley for over 100 years, acreage has grown to about 65,000 acres currently. In 2009, there were an estimated


38 TPI Turf News July/August 2018 Hazelnut production competes for crop land. Photo by Steve Trusty


30,000 acres of trees. It’s interesting to note that this acreage only represents about five percent of the world’s production. In Oregon, there were 3,300 harvested acres of blueberries in 2003. Currently, Oregon has about 9,500 acres of blueberries.


We are gearing up for transportation woes this fall. It is already a known factor that the equipment shortage and the lack of drivers is going to be an issue with no resolution in sight. Tis, coupled with reliance on new crop seed, is going to create a need for best planning and flexibility.


Vista Seed Partners LLC Provided by Doug King and Dr. Jerry Pepin


From his grower services perspective, King reported: As of mid-May, crop conditions are good. Te weather outlook for May was for moderate temperatures and below normal precipitation. Te extended weather forecast for early June was for a mix of showers and sun with moderate temperatures. Tese are generally good conditions for all grass seed crops: we just need some timely rains.


Pepin reported: For perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass, rust (Stem, Crown or Leaf Rust) appears to be becoming an increasing problem. I attribute this to changes in turf management where fertility and other inputs are being reduced. Ten years ago, it seems that higher maintenance diseases such as Pythium, Brown Patch, Gray leaf spot and various patch diseases were the most mentioned problems. Rust resistance was a secondary concern. Te NTEP rust resistance ratings will become more important in the future with lower maintenance and less water inputs. Te lower inputs favor development of rust diseases.


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