Our dry fall followed by a mild winter in much of the Pacific Northwest created some general concerns around the expected yields of our cool-season grass crops. Our industry has found that tall fescue needs fall moisture, so the plants tiller more, and grasses need cool or cold temps to vernalize (the introduction of the plant’s flowering process). As normal weather returned to the region in late winter/ early spring, some of our fields did not recover, and we did see some seed production fields get removed. However, today we are about six weeks away from seed harvest and in general we expect an average crop on most species.
Te mild winter did create more opportunity for our winter weeds to flourish so we believe our seed quality will be more challenged this year than in the past.
Our production acres remain relatively low for tall fescue, bluegrass and fine fescues going into the 2019 harvest season. As inventories remain tight, and production acres are limited, we expect market prices to remain firm.
SiteOne Landscape Supply Provided by the Seed Category Office
Current spring moisture has made up for the dryness of fall and winter. Despite ideal late spring weather, some yields on older fields might be negatively affected by the dry fall/ winter. Harvest timing is expected to be on track depending on the remaining weather experienced this spring.
Prices will continue to remain strong on almost all species. Domestic spring sales have been strong, leading to continued usage of current inventory.
Just like last year, shipping during the FALL of 2019 will be one of our greatest challenges! Best advice—plan ahead as it may take three to four weeks to ship to your location!
Sod Production Services
Provided by Chad Adcock, Vice President of Business Development
In response to the question: What production are you anticipating in terms of quality and quantity? Te production of Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass is going to nearly quadruple in 2019. It’s a new variety and we are seeing a lot of demand for it. We have licensed growers in traditional bermudagrass growing regions from Virginia, to Oklahoma to Japan. What’s truly remarkable is the explosive interest in Tahoma 31 in non-traditional bermudagrass growing regions.
Tahoma 31 has excellent turf quality, wear tolerance and durability, but sod producers in cool-season climates where we’ve never really seen warm-season grasses produced—such as Indiana, Ohio, and New Jersey—are planting Tahoma 31 because of its excellent cold tolerance. Te demand for Tahoma 31 is growing exponentially
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because of the cold tolerance data gathered through NTEP, at Oklahoma State University where the grass was developed, and at test sites in non-traditional cool- season locales where they’re sprigging soccer fields and golf tees with success. Tahoma 31 has won over end-users and sod producers in places that are now willing to put bermudagrass where they’ve never been successful growing bermudagrasses before.
Sod Solutions, Inc. Provided by Tobey Wagner
Vegetative stock, like this Innovation Zoysia licensed through Sod Solutions, is available in plugs, trays or slab sod. Photo courtesy of Sod Solutions
Sod Solutions represents 14 proprietary improved turfgrass variety brands and partners with a licensed grower network of over 200 turf farms scattered across the United States and the world. Sod Solutions is also the developer of Turf Logistics, a modular software platform providing solutions for overall farm management, truck routing, and ecommerce.
Technology is having an impact in the turf industry. Significant strides are being made in turfgrass breeding and research, production automation, and in the development of new sales channels for turf and related products through online sales fueled by digital marketing and education. But at the same time, producers are faced with age old issues like weather impact to their crop, labor, and trucking logistics and related regulations, and downward price pressure when supply outpaces demand.
Weather - In the Southeast, the spring of 2019 has been dry. From the Gulf Coast down through Florida, and from the Carolinas through Virginia drought conditions have slowed production and increased pressure on irrigation needs at farms. However, homeowners are also feeling the effects of the dry weather. Lawns in the Southeast may experience damage, and demand for sod will increase in the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020 as repairs and replacements will be needed to bring turf surfaces back to healthy condition.
TPI Turf News July/August 2019
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