INDUSTRY
Bring Grass to LifeTM
U.S. Sod Industry Checkoff by Erin Heidecker and Hannah Selness, Clutch
Sod producers in the U.S. have been discussing the benefits of creating a sod checkoff since 1996, but only in recent years has there been more intentional discussions around how the industry can begin that process. Agricultural research and promotion programs, or “checkoff programs,” are industry-funded initiatives that improve the market position of a commodity by expanding markets, increasing demand, conducting market and scientific research, and promoting industry initiatives and activities. There are currently over 20 USDA Research and Promotion programs on everything from beef, pork, eggs, and dairy, to specialty crops such as mangos, watermelons, Christmas trees, blueberries, and others. The proposed U.S. Sod Checkoff program would be the newest addition and would Bring Grass to LifeTM by telling the story of natural grass and the many benefits it brings to parks, sports fields, golf courses, lawns, and other urban greenspaces. In this way, it would do exactly what checkoffs are designed to do for all agricultural commodities, which is to increase consumer demand, raise awareness, fund important scientific and market research, and educate policy makers and the public on the value of natural grass.
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Dr. Casey Reynolds, Executive Director of Turfgrass Producers International (TPI), has been a powerful voice behind the effort, rallying the industry around the many benefits of an industry-wide checkoff. “The sod checkoff will benefit every aspect of the green industry by increasing the visibility and value of natural grass. It can do this by not only driving preference for natural grass sod with both consumers and customers, but also by uniting the U.S. sod industry to protect and even grow market share in the face of threats from misinformation, building codes that seek to reduce our market, grass bans, and products that compete for our space,” says Dr. Reynolds. Just a snapshot of the many things you can do by uniting an industry through a checkoff include:
Funding research and marketing efforts to drive 4 consumer preference for natural grass in sports fields, urban greenspace, lawns, and other sites.
Funding market and scientific research to 4 better understand consumers, improve farming
techniques, create new products and technologies,
