Just Starting, Need Help

bscroggs – posted 07 November 2002 14:49

Hi,

I’m new to the turf business, but I have been researching it for months now. I have many questions to ask, and I even have a little input sometimes. I live in central Louisiana. I have about 1 year left in college before I get a degree in Business. However I don’t want to sit in an office the rest of my life, so I thought I could use the business degree to start my own business. My wife is also in business and is great with books. My father-in-law is in the process of starting a plant nusery and wants me and him to try the turf business. We believe that a nursery and turf farm should work well together. I would be the one really running the turf farm. We are in the middle of the state, so the location should be good. He already has about 20 acres available to start with and can get more. He also has some machinery but not specialized sod equipment.

My questions are: 1)What kind of sod should we start with?, 2)How much should we start with?, 3)What kind of equipment should we start with?, and 4)How should we advertise?

I’m sure that I could come up with plenty more questions, but this is enough for now. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

seed – posted 11 November 2002 13:07

bscroggs, turf and nursery plants are often a good mix; if it’s a retail business, and depending on accessibility, some people may be drawn in to buy a few pieces of replacement sod, only to stay around and buy other plants. 20 acres is not enough to profitably produce typical sod; you would probably find it more profitable to buy a pallet or two at a time from someone else. However, small acreages are sometimes used to produce speciality grasses, plug trays, grass-on-plastic, etc.

1) See the varieties and species that normally grow there, and make sure you can supply one or two, even if you get them from someone else. Bermudagrass, etc.2) For common species, don’t start with less than several hundred acres.3) However, for a small, speciality operation, you will have to depend on a walk-behind sod cutter, of which there are several manufacturers. The good ones won’t be cheap. Your biggest challenges in sod production will be water and weeds. Make sure you have clean ground. Water can be provided by some combination of hose reel, portable pump, pivot system, and seepage from ditches, depending on site conditions.4) The best business is word-of-mouth. But you need to recruit customers, and there are many ways of doing that besides traditional Yellow pages, newspapers, and direct mail. One the best advertisements, in my opinion, is your company name and logo on your trucks.

Phil