Seed outlook a mixed bag
18 Oct, 2005 By: Ron Hall Athletic Turf NewsThis year's production of turfgrass seed varied by region thanks to weather and harvesting conditions
This year's production of turfgrass seed is in the bag. Mother Nature, as usual, treated some growing regions better than others.
"The Kentucky bluegrass production area in the Pacific Northwest suffered a record drought through March, but spring rains allowed most fields to recuperate and produce a near average-sized crop," reports Susan Samudio with Jacklin Seed, Post Falls, ID. She says that proprietary bluegrass production is down 10-15% compared to normal but the seed is better quality with fewer weeds and other problems.
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By contrast, common Kentucky bluegrass will be in good supply, she says. Even so, farmers, faced with rising costs, are demanding 20% higher production fees compared with two years ago.
Oregon turfgrass producer Ralph Fisher says the quality of this year's crop of grass seed in the Willamette Valley is "excellent" due to great harvesting conditions. He says the the turf-type tall fescue yield is average but with more acres harvested.
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Todd Bond, vice president of Mountain View Seeds, reports a "very short" harvest of KY-31 tall fescue, much of it grown in Missouri. While KY-31 is not recommended for use as a turfgrass, consumers still buy it and its shortage will squeeze the total supply of tall fescue seed.
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The perennial ryegrass crop came in strong, reports Steve Tubbs, president of Turf Merchants, Inc., Tangent, OR. The same can't be said for annual ryegrass, which suffered because of too much rain this past spring. Some production areas reported yields off by as much as 40%, Tubbs says. Expect overseeding costs to rise.
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Look for price increases in Oregon-produced fine, creeping red and hard fescues, as well. Production was off somewhat for all of them, although the hard fescue crop was normal, reports Ralph Fisher.
Seeded Bermudagrass production is located in the arid Southwest. A hard frost there late in March damped what looked like a banner year for growing seed there. Consequently, yields came in lower than had been expected.
"Good weather in May and June kept the crop from being a total disaster," reports Charlie Rodgers, Seeds West turfgrass breeder.
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