on some juvenile plants. Rouging crews have been out working and seed growers have been spraying fields. Tose services will stop shortly as we get closer to harvest. We should start to receive some Kentucky Bluegrass in our plant around June 11 or so. Te tall fescue crop in the middle to upper Columbia River Basin looks pretty good. Spraying and roguing crews are also about done. Yields in the Columbia River Basin for most grass seed crops look to be average to slightly above average. Right now, the crop in the basin looks to be very nice which means it will combine great and process great. Dryland grass seed production in the Grande Ronde Valley (Kentucky Bluegrass and Fine Fescue) of Eastern Oregon does not look very good due to the lack of precipitation. Grass seed crops in Western Oregon are under stress where water has not been applied. Very little supplemental irrigation is used in Western Oregon. Te grass seed industry is anticipating a below average yield on most items coming out of Western Oregon though mother nature has a way of correcting herself. Grass seed movement around the globe has been above average the last 12-18 months and looks to continue this fall. It is safe to say going into harvest 2021 in North America for cool-season grass seed species, inventories are at historic lows from the processing side of the equation
Market Trends: Global usage of grass seed products during the pandemic has been historically high. Usage in the U.S. continues to be high due in part to distributors and their customers trying to position seed with the anticipation of a strong Fall season and rising prices. Golf, retail consumers, and residential landscapers have largely led the way for the grass seed industry over the past year. We anticipate that continuing to an extent, even with some discretionary spending going to other areas like travel with the removal of Covid-19 restrictions in full swing.
Anticipated Production Quality and Quantity: Overall production will likely be down on most turf species from what we received in 2020. Te droughts experienced in the main production areas are significant and are likely to lead to significant yield reductions. Perennial ryegrass production looks in good shape in the northern Minnesota production region, but just north of that in Canada, there is significant drought stress that will limit production for them once again. Already fields have been removed due to insufficient establishment.
In short years, quality does take a bit of a hit overall. Tere are generally different reasons for it though. In drought stressed years, there are more opportunities for weeds and other crop seed to grow into that space that otherwise wouldn’t have been available. Labor is also a major challenge for our farmers. Many growers can achieve the best quality when they can hire crews to remove unwanted plants from fields through spot spraying, but it is harder than ever to find workers to do that job. Additionally, because the farmers and seed processors need to make sure they get every usable pound they can, this means some will likely not try quite as hard to get everything out in order to avoid throwing away good seed.
DLF Pickseed’s Banfield Perennial Ryegrass is developing well in this production field.
DLF PICKSEED
Provided by Sean Chaney, Vice President, Professional Turf Division
Weather Impact: In the Willamette Valley of Oregon and Southeast Washington state, we are in either moderate or severe drought according to the late May drought monitor. Acres that are not irrigated are experiencing stress in these areas. In Oregon, this will affect turf products the most as they normally need more moisture later in the season than earlier maturing forages. In Washington, the drought will affect dryland Kentucky Bluegrass production, which is generally the higher acreage in Kentucky bluegrass and is where most mid-range varieties and common 98/85 comes from. With 2021 acres in this area already sharply reduced for crop ‘21, further reduction of the crop due to drought will surely cause bluegrass prices to continue to strengthen.
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Assessment of Anticipated Pricing: Te carryover levels of our cool-season turf species are at record lows. Even species like tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass that started the year at reasonable levels have been depleted. Perennial ryegrass shortages have been well known throughout the year, and this same level of shortage currently applies to tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass and all fine fescues. Naturally, this has put upward pressure on prices. Seed dealers are bracing for the 2021 crop to be the most expensive in history.
Tis close-up shows the seed development on DLF Pickseed’s Tower Tall Fescue.
TPI Turf News July/August 2021
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