From a seed outlook standpoint: Early shipments are going to be a problem as carryover of good, clean seed is practically non-existent. Tis coming fall is shaping up to be one that no one will ever want to repeat. With every specie being in short supply, there will be a lot of demand for cleaning space. Cleaners will be operating at high speed in order to fulfill as many orders as possible and while that may sound good, it isn’t. Tis year we have had an abundance of precipitation and the fall-applied pre- emergent herbicides didn’t stick around for nearly long enough. Production fields have high populations of annual bluegrass, annual ryegrass, and rough stalk bluegrass. Rough stalk bluegrass used to be confined to the South end of the valley, but this is the first year that I have ever seen so many contaminated fields in the North end. Higher contamination and fast cleaning speeds are not a good combination, as it will lead to a lot of marginal seed getting bagged up. We are actively scouting fields to identify those that can make sod quality.
JONATHAN GREEN, INC.
Provided by Bruce Rose, Cascade International Seed Company and Barry Green
Now to pricing thoughts. We all have felt the crunch of higher prices for most all grass seed species and 2022 doesn’t look like they will be dropping. Te Oregon Ryegrass and Tall Fescue Commissions and Dealers will be meeting in mid to late June to negotiate pricing for the 2022 crop. With fertilizer and labor costs at an all-time high, I believe growers are going to push for even higher prices than those of 2021. Only time will tell.
Perennial Ryegrass: Perennial Ryegrass acres seem to be stable with maybe a few more in the ground. With as wet a spring as we were having, it had been difficult to get into fields and apply fungicides and growth regulator. Fields were looking very nice and healthy as of the time of this writing.
Tall Fescue: With the higher prices on Tall Fescue last year, a fair number of acres were planted in the fall of 2021. A wet spring was also hampering fungicides and growth regulator applications for this crop. Most fields appear to be healthy, and yield should be up from a year ago.
Kentucky Bluegrass: Bluegrass acres are stable again this year and we have seen a very nice winter and spring with excellent growing conditions for bluegrasses in the production areas. Yield should be closer to normal but with still higher pricing.
Fine Fescues: Fine Fescue production has really taken a hit as almost none of the production was burned again last fall. Stands are very weak and weedy. Some increase in acres was planted this spring, but those fields won’t see production until the 2023 harvest. Pricing should remain high as yields will be off again this harvest.
Te beauty of Eastern Washington stands out in this shot of a Jonathan Green/Cascade International Seed bluegrass production field..
Western Oregon has had another tough year in our grass production growing region. We are all well aware of the huge impact last year’s heat wave had on grass seed production. With that being said, stands going into fall were pretty beat up and stressed out. As a result, fall herbicides were either not applied or half rates were used as to not cause any more damage to fields. For this reason, some fields have weed issues.
With a very mild, wet winter and spring, we have had some favorable growing conditions for all species of grass. At the time this was written in mid-May, we were at 50 degrees and more rain was in the forecast. If Mother Nature is kind to us, I believe Oregon will have an average to normal yield this year.
TPI Turf News July/August 2022
Tectonic Tall Fescue, a 2022 cultivar introduced by Jonathan Green, has a rich dark-green color and blends very well with the newest generation of Black Beauty Tall Fescues.
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