GRAFF’S TURF FARMS— BUILDING ON SUCCESS
By Suz Trusty Te story of Graff’s Turf Farms begins when Randy and Betsy met. Tough Randy claims it was “in the nursery,” Betsy reports it was really 7th grade. Randy was born and raised in Fort Morgan, Colorado. When Betsy’s family moved to Fort Morgan, she and Randy met in the classroom, became a couple and dated all the way through high school. Randy spent his summers working with his grandpa and uncle on their dairy farm. He also worked with his best friend’s family on their feedlot. After they were married, on June 23, 1973, Randy left the feedlot and worked for a couple of different farmers during the growing season. During the winters, he worked for his father-in-law, who was the general manager at the John Deere dealership in town. Always good with machinery, Randy’s primary task was assembling equipment.
One day, a customer and turf producer from Denver came into Randy’s father-in-law’s office and shared that he was looking for a young man with an agricultural background that he could teach the turf industry to and train to manage his 600-acre sod farm in the Denver area. Randy did an interview and got the job, moving the family to Denver.
Randy jumped in with both feet and managed the growing side of the farm while Betsy went to work in the office. Tings were running well for a couple years until that owner’s divorce sidelined the operation. With a young family, 2-year-old Amy and baby James, Randy and Betsy decided to go back to Fort Morgan to start their own sod farm.
“Tat was 1978,” says Randy. “We went to the bank, but they didn’t understand turfgrass, saying that loaning
Te Graff Family gathers for a photo during a cruise in 2016. Top Row (L to R) Simon, Letty, James; Middle Row (L to R) Jacob, Becky, Amy, Hannah; Bottom Row (L to R) Betsy, Randy and Rachel. Photo courtesy of the Graff family
14 TPI Turf News March/April 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68