crop, soybeans can be covered by insurance, but that’s limited by government regulations to $100,000. Sod is not considered a standard agricultural crop, so is not insurable. We ended up losing several million dollars in crops.”

All of the local roads were closed, many of them washed away, and most of the ditches washed in. Chip says, “We dug over 50 miles of ditches and took on some of the road repair. We were able to submit invoices for some reimbursement from New York for that work. We also had to do some very extensive inland leveling and work in lime, starter fertilizer and other nutrients. None of that was covered.”

Charles Lain, Sr. chats with Ben Warren, a pioneer in the industry and ASPA, that Charles says he’ll never forget. Photo from TPI archives.

getting a lot of their customers. Some folks were calling us the sod “dynasty.’”

By the late 80s, all three of Chip’s sisters had married and opted not to join the family business. Charles and Chip continued their involvement in and service to ASPA, with both couples participating in meetings as often as possible.

Ten tragedy struck the family. On February 23, 1991, Ruth died suddenly and unexpectedly of a cerebral hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm. Chip says, “It was devastating for all of us. She and my Dad had both just turned 60 and were planning to retire at 65. We all had to step back and relook at our plans.

“Dad could not bring himself to come back to the business full-time, so Shari and I took over the management and expanded our operations. We bought the company from him in 1995. By that time we’d grown to 750 acres and were producing several different crops, but mostly sod.”

Growth continued, with the purchase of an auto stack harvester and the farm reaching a high of 1,200 acres. Chip was serving as the 2009-2010 TPI president and Pine Island hosted the Field Day in July of 2010. “Te two together were pretty overwhelming. But our great staff and the staff at TPI did a wonderful job and everything came across very smoothly.”

Flooding of 2011 Te next year started well. Sod sales were strong; the soybeans were developing nicely. Ten, in late August, Hurricane Irene hit them hard. “We can handle gale force winds,” says Chip. “But Irene dropped 11 inches of rain, too. Ten, a week later, in early September, tropical storm Lee came through, hitting us with another 11 inches of rain. We moved our equipment to higher ground and stacked pallets to elevate our grass seed and bagged goods. Our buildings and equipment were just out of the water. But all our fields were flooded and remained under water for 30 days. All of our crops were destroyed. As an agricultural

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To meet commitments to customers, Chip bought sod from Johnson Farms in southern New Jersey, 150 miles away. “Tey trucked it in; we’d reload it and send it out,” says Chip. “We were able to raise the price just enough so we didn’t lose money on it.”

Recovery is a long process. “Te Keevens, who have been flooded several times, told us it would take about five years to recover, but we’re not there yet. Initially we fielded a lot of questions. Could this happen again? Will you be able to produce sod to the same high quality standards? We’ve proven we can and will do that and nearly all of our customers stuck with us.”

Moving Forward Te flood did have one positive impact notes Chip. “It motivated us to re-evaluate our land use and explore options for diversification.” Tey dropped some rented land and are now down to 800 acres. Tey allocate 500 acres for sod production, splitting the remainder between soybeans, malting barley, and sweet corn.

“We rotate fields between the soybeans, barley and sod, which is beneficial to all three crops,” says Chip. “Te sweet corn is a very small part of the business. We sell some to our retail customers and supply two farm stands. We all like to eat it and it gets our name out there. Shari

Chip and Shari Lain enjoy networking with Eddie and Jim Keeven while checking out the exhibits during the 1992 Summer Convention. Photo from the TPI archives.

TPI Turf News November/December 2016