Cover Story
2020
SOD PRODUCERS’ REPORT for NORTH CAROLINA By Grady Miller, Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences | AG-809 Publication date: May 2020
In
March 2020, North Carolina State University conducted the sixth annual survey to examine inventory and pricing of North Carolina sod.
Overview • Supply of bermudagrass sod is up compared to 2019, with most suppliers saying they have adequate supplies for their expected demand in 2020. There still may be some shortages. • Supply of zoysiagrass and St. Augustinegrass are expected to be worse in 2020 compared to 2019, with more than 40% of surveyed producers expecting shortages. • This was the third consecutive year that about one-third of the producers predicted they could have shortages of centipedegrass sod. • No shortages for tall fescue and tall fescue + Kentucky bluegrass sod were predicted for 2020. • Only four North Carolina growers reported growing pure stands of Kentucky bluegrass, but half of those growers anticipated shortages. • There are expected price increases for all the turfgrass species in 2020 except for centipedegrass (same) and St. Augustinegrass (7% decrease). Of the actual prices reported for early 2020, zoysiagrass and Kentucky bluegrass had the greatest increases. • There was a 30% increase in growers reporting that they grew proprietary grasses but a slight reduction in certified sod growers. This reduction was not expected because most proprietary grasses require certification. • Production acreage was projected to increase in 2020. • The primary market for North Carolina sod producers continues to be landscape contractors. • There was an uptick in sales directly to homeowners with a slight decrease in sales to the sports/athletic field sector of consumers compared to previous years. • There was a 30% increase in the average number of fulltime employees per producer. • Total sod sales was reported to be 65% greater than the previous year.
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Survey Details Twenty-three producers representing the following farm sizes completed the anonymous online survey: • less than 200 acres (11 participants) • 201 to 500 acres (4 participants) • 501 to 800 acres (4 participants) • more than 800 acres (4 participants) North Carolina Sod Producers Association (NCSPA) records suggest the number of completed surveys represents about 55% of the sod farms in North Carolina. The number of farms for the respective farm sizes suggests that this survey represents an overwhelming majority of the sod production acreage in the state.
Inventories We obtained inventory estimates for bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, centipedegrass, St. Augustinegrass, tall fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass as well as a tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass mix. These estimates were based on estimated sales and the availability of sod as being excellent (more than 10% of demand), adequate (equal to demand), or poor (more than 10% shortage). Pricing information included the farm price as well as the price for truckload orders delivered to the closest urban market or within 100 miles of the farms. All costs were reported as price per square foot of sod. Bermudagrass is being grown by 19 (83%) of the surveyed producers. This is currently the most popular turfgrass species grown by NC sod producers. Seventy-four percent of these producers rated their inventory as adequate this year; 11% indicated their inventory was excellent. For 2020, 16% of all bermudagrass producers projected having less than adequate supplies.
July/August 2020
