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