Sod Production Service’s Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass thrives in this home lawn. Photo by Lance Maxwell
SOD PRODUCTION SERVICES
Provided by Chad Adcock, Vice President of Business Development
Market Trends: Tis past year, we had another cold winter with record low temperatures. In the south-central region of the United States specifically, cold damage and winterkill on older bermudagrasses was widespread. Golf courses and sports fields alike lost massive amounts of grass, especially in Oklahoma and northwest Texas. Yet, Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass, with its excellent cold hardiness, did really well. Demand to replace older bermudagrass varieties with Tahoma 31 is so high that our growers in the region can’t grow enough to replace all of their customers’ lost bermudagrass. As you can imagine, our Tahoma 31 licensed growers are trying to balance harvesting and selling the acreage they have with expanding sod farm field acreage to meet future demand.
Tahoma 31 is really taking the market by storm along the Eastern Seaboard. We are gaining a lot of traction in the northeast as the grass is planted in many more locations on sports fields and on golf courses. We are seeing this from Maryland to Georgia as turf professionals realize it’s a great grass and they’re talking about it with their colleagues. Superintendents tell other superintendents. Sports turf managers talk to other sports turf managers. When the word on the street is good, it starts to snowball. Tat's what we’re seeing now.
Anticipated Production Quality and Quantity: Inventory of Tahoma 31 is on the upswing. Demand for the grass is high, so our growers continue to expand their acreage to serve future projects. As of May, we have about 1,000 acres of Tahoma 31 in production, with more coming online this summer. We currently have approximately 45 licensed Tahoma 31 sod producers globally in markets such as China, Australia. and Japan. Around 30 of our growers are in the United States. With licensed Tahoma 31 producers located from California to New Jersey, and Colorado to Texas, we are still offering a limited number of licensing opportunities in strategically placed markets here in the U.S.
TPI Turf News July/August 2021
Sod Solutions’ Tobey Wagner (left in photo) is shown here with pallets of CitraBlue St. Augustine sod which will be installed on this home lawn.
SOD SOLUTIONS Provided by Tobey Wagner, President
General Update – 2021: Sales of warm- and cool-season turfgrass are setting records across most of the nation. Reports from growers have many at maximum harvesting and trucking capacity with some farms on the cusp of cutting out all inventory by early summer. Many farms are limiting quantities of pickup/delivery to longtime customers and not accepting new customers. Sod Solutions has seen rapid growth of existing and new varieties. Mature varieties EMPIRE® Zoysia, Celebration® Bermuda, Palmetto® St. Augustine, NorthBridge® Bermuda and Latitude 36® Bermuda are in high demand. A grower recently reported over 40 acres of EMPIRE Zoysia harvested and sold in just a few weeks in early spring, breaking all previous records. Additionally, pricing is up significantly across the industry with some regions up as much as 20 percent year to date.
Sod Solutions Innovation® Zoysia, developed by Texas A&M and Kansas State, has surged in popularity as it performed very well through the major cold event throughout the Midwest and Texas in mid-February. Innovation has also performed well both in drought and through regional floods this past year. It is a tough and persistent grass and is having major positive impacts throughout the southern half of the United States. Acres are increasing and demand is strong.
CitraBlue® St. Augustine, developed by the University of Florida, is one of our fastest-growing programs. Demand is outpacing supply as the grass has improved disease resistance, drought tolerance, and exhibits a stunning blue-green color. It only takes one lawn in a neighborhood to create envy throughout the street. Customers have complained about growers “painting” the grass, mistakenly thinking the color is not natural! CitraBlue is both a beauty and a beast and is poised to have a significant impact on the Sunshine State and beyond.
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