Michigan State University and ASPA

Jim’s position at Michigan State began just prior to the sod production industry “exploding” in Michigan. Most growers had been producing onions and carrots on the organic soils referred to as “muck farms.” When sales fell off many switched over to turfgrass sod and needed technical assistance on how to grow it.

Jim says, “Dr. Joe Vargas, Dr. Paul Rieke and I had the first and only sod production research farms at the Rose Lake Experiment Station. Our research on the muck soils there matched the growing conditions of most of the Michigan turfgrass producers. We included a visit there in some of the summer Field Days and started a sod section at the MSU Turf Conference that drew attendees from across the U.S. and Canada.”

While Michigan growers were initially shipping their sod to Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New York state, when competition from other states began, the cost of shipping became a factor. During that time, Jim attended three or four different meetings with organizational attempts orchestrated by Ben Warren. Several smaller regional groups paved the way for ASPA, especially the Sod Growers Association of Mid-America, also spearheaded by Ben Warren. Te Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario, which was established in 1960, was a great role model and is still going strong. Tey had developed a marketing strategy based on different quality levels of sod.

“Ben’s goal was to get the agreement to form the international organization,” says Jim. “Some producers in the East wanted to limit it to a national organization, keeping their Canadian competitors out of it. Finally Ben overcame that opposition. And stiffer competition convinced those that had been guarding what they thought were secrets to realize they could all benefit from sharing information to help grow a better product.”

Te official establishment of the American Sod Producers Association (ASPA) took place on July 11, 1967, in conjunction with an MSU Turfgrass Field Day. Jim says, “Following their visit to the MSU sod farm, a group gathered in the evening in the MSU animal science building and worked out the key organizational details. Ben Warren, who had been the driving force in all this, sat in the background and I was there beside him. I felt very strongly that if their organization was going to succeed, it had to be established by the sod producers themselves. Te academic arm needed to provide research data, technical support and the meeting facilities and opportunities to help them grow.”

Te following day, those gathered toured two sites, Bob Daymon’s Emerald Valley Turf Farm and Daymon Manufacturing Corporation, and Bill Johnsons’ operations at Halmick Sod Nursery. Jim says, “We’d been able to set

Te photo of Dr. James B and Harriet Beard on this brochure about the MSU endowed graduate fellowship named for them is one of their favorites. Photo courtesy of the Dr. James B and Harriet Beard Collection

up the tour quickly with the help of local sod producers and several suppliers.”

Editor’s note: More background on the official establishment of ASPA and those early years is available in the article, “Countdown to TPI’s 50th Anniversary in 2017,” in the March/April 2016 issue of Turf News. For the digital version, visit the TPI website www.TurfGrassSod.org.

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