Expanding

In 2002, Graffs purchased another 220 acres on the frontage road on the highway where their office is now. It had the sandy soil and water source that were their top two criteria and the location gave them better exposure.

Randy says, “In early 2003, Betts and I were visiting some friends in Kona, Hawaii, when we got a phone call from the owner of the neighboring farm. He said, ‘I want to sell my farm and this is what I want for it. And I want to do it right away.’ I told him I better talk to my partner and all of a sudden we’re having a business discussion on whether we need to buy it. We’d just bought 220 acres, but this was a 160-acre, sandy-soil farm with water availability and it was right next door so we wouldn’t have to transport equipment. We called him back in a couple hours and bought it. Tat put us up to about 430 acres of our own land in sod production and we were growing sod on some rental property across the road, too.”

Tey’d also expanded into multiple grasses by then. Tey grew a couple proprietary blends, named for Graff’s Turf Farms as GTF Kentucky Bluegrass and GTF Tall Fescue, and another blend named Hy-Performance Blue, along with their multiple custom growing for sports turf venues and golf courses.

Amy and James had both worked in the business during high school, including trade shows, where they honed their customer service skills. But, during their college years, neither was initially interested in joining the family business. Amy attended McCook College in McCook, Nebraska, graduating with a degree in business management. Betsy says, “Shortly after starting her first post-college job in Greeley, Colorado, she called us and said, ‘I made more money running a forklift as a kid.’ We encouraged her to return and she jumped right back into the office assisting to convert the accounting system from manual to computer.”

Five years later, James went to Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. James loved performing and had dreams of going to New York. But, he met his wife, Letty, and got married, deciding to start a family and possibly become a music teacher instead. They were blessed with baby Hannah and were living very happily in Nebraska until sister Amy called and told him that he was needed on the farm. She convinced him to come home, come back to the family business and he picked his family up and moved them to Fort Morgan.

James concentrated on the marketing and scheduling, working with Amy and Betsy. Randy continued sharing his expertise on turfgrass production, harvesting and

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