Got Grass

That may be the key question if you’re looking for any grass seed before harvest of new crops this fall. Old crop inventories of perennial ryegrass are limited to none this year. Tall fescue old crop inventories may be a little better than perennial ryegrass, but they will go fast. If seed houses and distributors procrastinated on early order of grass seed, it may be a long wait until new crop. That puts new crop at the mercy of Mother Nature to get it in, not to mention waiting to get it cleaned, tested, blended, bagged, tagged, and last but not least, getting it across country to the Midwest. Whoo, that wore me out just putting it in perspective. 

So, based on seed inventories of old crop, if you had a seeding project that needed to go in before new crop gets in town, you might want to have a strategy. Start rounding up your seed now! Trust me.

I know you’re thinking: When might new seed be available? When might new seed arrive? If you ask three different seed companies, you’ll get three different answers. Nobody knows exactly, and as I said earlier, there are a lot of hoops to jump through before it gets on a rail car or truck.  On the average, you can expect new crop mid September.

Like a good turf manager having a strategy on seed, Advanced Turf Solutions had a strategy as well. Based on inputs from seed companies, field reports, and inventories, Advanced Turf Solutions acquired enough clean seed inventory to carry us into new crop. That’s big, especially with some uncertainties of crop 2013.

Take home this message … Book your seed early! Get it locked in and locked down! You’ll be glad you did.

Crop 2013:

Perennial Ryegrass: 10 days earlier than last year but after they started swathing it started raining and hasn’t quit. Yield is less than last year. Due to drought conditions last fall in Oregon, look for a lot “other crop” and “noxious weeds” on seed tags.

Tall Fescue: Perceived to be an average crop with normal harvest.

Kentucky Bluegrass: Decent crop and could be a little early.

Annual Ryegrass: Earlier than last year but very light yield; again this is due to drought conditions last fall.

For more information on seed availability give your Advanced Turf Solutions rep a call.

Roger D Crenshaw
ATS Sales Manager