Consultant Jonathan Moore, provides the cohort insight into the workings of the U.S. federal government and its impact on the sod production industry.
Now, as the cohort navigates to the close of the program, this is the third of a three-article series sharing the stories of the participants.
Alec LeMay A-G Sod Farms
Alec nixed the chef idea during college, but stayed in the food industry. After graduation, he worked in almond processing. He says, “I was commuting about 1.5 hours each day to the plant. I loved the job, but not the commute. When Dad called me about an open sales position at the Fresno Farm, working under farm manager Curtis Blasingame, I applied.”
Alec worked in sales for the Fresno farm for seven years. “I also ran the installation crew,” says Alec. “Tat was my favorite part of the job, hands-on, working with the guys, beautifying people’s property.”
Tat led to his move in March of 2025 to his current position as farm manager. He says, “I love the change and appreciate the management opportunity.” Te Palmdale farm grows three varieties of Bermudagrass, about 120 acres of TifTuf, 30 acres of Tifway, and 30 acres of Tifgreen, along with roughly 215 acres of Elite Plus Fescue (a combination of 90 percent Turf Type Tall Fescue and 10 percent Kentucky bluegrass).
Te Palmdale Farm serves the entire Los Angeles area. Alec says, “We sell to anybody who wants great grass. Our largest market is the Harmony program, which covers 90 Home Depot and Lowe’s stores. We do more installations than deliveries for our commercial customers, working with municipalities, school districts, sports fields, and ballparks. We’re also working to expand more into the golf course industry.”
Alec LeMay is Farm Manager for A-G Sod Farms of Palmdale, California. Te company, owned by John and Betty Addink, began in 1969 with four acres. Now it also has farm locations in Moreno Valley (Nuevo, CA), Fresno, CA, Stockton, CA, and Fort Collins, CO. Alec is the youngest of Larry and Valerie LeMay’s three sons. Larry is President of A-G Sod Farms, overseeing all its locations. Alec says, “I grew up around the business, going to farms with Dad in the summer, but my brothers and I didn’t work in the business as kids, and there was no pressure on us to get into it.” So, he took a winding path to the turfgrass industry.
Alec originally wanted to be a chef and majored in food science and culinology at Fresno State University. Tere, he met his future wife, Victoria, during a joint fraternity and sorority football tailgate party. Alec says, “She earned her master's degree and is a Speech Language Pathologist. We dated for over six years and got married in March of 2019. We now have two kids. Our daughter, Clare, is three and a half, and our son, Luke, was born on Christmas in 2024.”
TPI Turf News September/October 2025
Alec has a staff of 26 at Palmdale. Te three in the office handle customer service and logistics. Six are truck drivers. Te other 17 are field crew and installation crew members. “In California, we work year-round, except for rain or snow days,” says Alec. “We’re open six days a week, and it’s almost a 24-hour operation. Our trucks deliver between 2:00 am to 10:45 am; the truck drivers come in around midnight to load; and our field crew starts around 5:30 am.”
Larry alerted Alec to the Future Leaders Fellowship Program as a networking opportunity, and Alec reports the experience has delivered far more than he anticipated. He’s interacted with his first cohort mentor, Ben Boehme, and board member mentor, Charles Harris, at the Orlando and San Antonio TPI conferences. “Te cohort connections started at our initial meeting and just keep growing,” he says. “My peer-to-peer contact, Meccay Nimmer, is in South Carolina. With the cross-country distance and our schedules, we’re still working out our farm visits.”
Alec called the Italy trip an amazing experience, even more so because Victoria joined him. She was a real trooper, taking it all in even though she was seven months pregnant. “Being part Italian, she loved seeing some of the country,” Alec says. “I learned so much during the sod tours from the hosts, our cohort, and other attendees.” On one tour, they saw streaks of yellowing grass throughout the field. Hank Kerfoot commented, “Nature doesn’t
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