For those dealing with the aftermath of flooding, whether it’s on your own production fields, or the natural grass areas of your customers, there are excellent resources with tips on assessing damage and taking the appropriate actions. Check out the Helpful Hints from Te Lawn Institute, “Flooding and Turfgrass Health,” in the July/August 2018 issue of Turf News.
Cleanup will be a slow process, as staff members armed with rakes were discovering.
His buildings—the sales facility, the shop and storage facilities—were all inundated with water. Two grain bins also were flooded, and ag officials were telling farmers across the region that there was no way to salvage any of the grains impacted by the flood waters due to potential pollutants as well as the possibility of mold developing. Meisinger’s realistic estimate at that point was that 60 percent of his assets were impacted.
Last year Meisinger harvested 257 acres of sod; he sold 300 acres the previous year. He feels that he should have enough sod to harvest to fulfill normal potential sales. He had planted more of his ground into sod anticipating a better year and thought that the prices for sod would be better than traditional row crops, such as corn, soybeans and sorghum. With all the residential and commercial property flooding across the area, the sod market could potentially be higher. And, the media reports, the ordeal is not over. In early April, Scott Dergan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said, “We’re going to have to deal with snowmelt and water filtering through the Missouri River system for the next month or so.”
While the flooding was a heavy hit, Fast Grass is a big operation and Meisinger is cautiously optimistic. He says, “We will pull through. It’s not going to be easy, but it is doable.”
Post-Event Strategies Te immediate first step, after determining all the people that may have been involved are safe and accounted for, is assessing the damage. Before you touch anything—document it. Take videos or photos of everything all the way through the discovery, cleanup and restoration processes!
Check out the article on page 12, “After the Fire— Overcoming Tragedy,” for ideas on how to successfully face the challenges of a disastrous event.
TPI Turf News May/June 2019
In addition, Roch Gaussoin, PhD, Professor and Extension Turfgrass Specialist, and Bill Kreuser, PhD, Assistant Professor and Turfgrass Extension Specialist, both at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, issued a Turf iNfo for the North Central U.S. on March 25, 2019, in online, PDF format, titled,
“Recovery after historic flooding.”
https://turf.unl.edu/ turfinfo/3-25_Flood_Recovery.pdf.
Check All Available Resources On April 1, TPI Executive Director Casey Reynolds, issued this email message: “Dear TPI Family and Friends, “As many of you know, flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and in many midwestern states have been devastating to many farms including those in the sod farming community. A near-record March snowpack and extremely wet fall and winter months have resulted in excess water with simply nowhere to go, and in Nebraska alone flooding has already caused more than $1 billion in damage with more than 2,000 homes and 340 businesses lost.
“We extend our thoughts and prayers to the farming communities and families of the Midwest United States as they are coping with damage from historic flooding. If there is anything we can do at TPI to extend a helping hand, please let us know. We are here to support our seed and sod-farming families and communities and ask that you join us in keeping them in your thoughts and prayers during this challenging time.”
Too often, people do not know what you need until you tell them. Reach out for help to other members of the TPI family and to other individuals or companies who have the resources you need. For those with resources to share, reach out and offer them. During these stressful times of cleanup and restoration, that outreach is especially meaningful.
Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News. All photos courtesy of Robert Meisinger of Fast Grass.
Editor’s note: If you would like a PDF version of any of the articles listed above, please send an email with your request to:
suztrusty@TurfGrassSod.org.
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