Posted September 10, 2024 | By: Nutrien Ag Solutions

In this episode of Agronomy for Your Acres, Crop Consultant Kyle Huvar discusses turfgrass, including its ideal planting and growing seasons, and shares his recommendations on which turfgrass varieties to consider.

Episode Transcript:

Farm Progress broadcast presents this Week in Agribusiness Serving America's most essential industry brought to you by case IH, solutions for every challenge, equipment for every farm case IH Built by farmers. Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us here for This Week in Agribusiness. I'm Mike Pearson. Over this growing season, we've been checking in with our friends from Nutrien Ag Solutions about progress in the field.

Earlier this season we talked with Kyle Huvar of El Campo, Texas about how crops were faring in his region, South Texas, along the Gulf Coast. Things were looking pretty good then and he joins us now for an update. Kyle, good to talk with you again. And can you fill us in? How'd harvest go in coastal South Texas? Hey, good morning, Mike.

 Yes, sir. So we were set up for a record crop last time I spoke with you. We did make a record crop. We're in the process. And Hurricane Beryl came and paid a visit. So a few hours inland from the coast, the Gulf of Mexico, where the wind speed was high, is where we had the most damage. And we had a lot of corn go down.

 And that was that was setting up for a three plus bale crop that didn't end up being where growers wanted it to be. But we have then picked up the pieces since and customers are prepping fields for next year now. It's always about looking forward to the future. And of course Nutrien Ag Solutions work with row crop farmers across the country in their fields.

But I understand you also do a lot of work with turfgrass and ornamental grasses as well. Kyle, let's talk a little bit about that. What is the growing season for turfgrass in Texas? Yes, sir. So the growing season for turf grass in Texas, harvest-wise, is 365 days a year. So I'd say the grass usually starts greening up in early March and then it'll stay green until the first frost, which is usually sometime in November.

All right. Well, given the heat and some of the challenges that Texas homeowners face, what would you recommend is the best time to plant a yard? So I would say the best time to sod your yard would be early spring, mid spring, and then really skip in summer if you can help it. And going into the fall months, just because it'll give you a little bit more break from the heat and be able to use water a little bit better because a lot of the cities in Texas now are getting water restrictions.

So the summer months, if you get cut off on your water when you first seed your grass, you might not be able to get it grown in. That's a great point, Kyle. Water is vital and I assume for turfgrass farmers, labor is also a vital concern. How are growers in your region dealing with the labor issues in the economy?

Yes sir, so over the last 20 years as labor has gotten shorter and it’s harder to find help, growers in South Texas on turf farms have went from machines that had four-man manual harvester to a one-man automated harvester or the machines auto stacking the pallet and doing all the work of three people. So that's really cut down on labor shortage or helped.

Absolutely. We see technology solving that labor challenge so many times on these different farms. Kyle, now, you sound pretty passionate about turf grass, and I'm curious, do you have a favorite turfgrass variety? Yes, I actually do. Palisade Zoysia is my favorite turfgrass. And that's this field we're standing in now. So this is my favorite. What do you like about Palisade Zoysia?

My favorite characteristics of Palisade Zoysia is that it’s shade tolerant, drought tolerant, and it really holds up to the Texas heat. It doesn't require a whole lot of maintenance, so it's all well-rounded variety. All right, Kyle, what other recommendations would you have for folks looking to seed a quality grass? Yeah, so to seed a quality grass, it really is going to depend on what area of Texas you're in.

 There's so many different areas. This farm I'm standing on now, Horizon turfgrass in Wharton, Texas has over 8 to 10 different varieties of turf to be able to ship all over the state. So it's really going to depend on where you're at or what variety you would want to plant. And the best way to get an answer on that would probably be talking to your local turf farmer in your area and asking them.

Absolutely. So much of it depends on geography. Kyle Huvar, Nutrien Ag Solutions, thanks for joining us one more time to fill us in on progress down there in South Texas. Thank you. And folks, you can learn more about the solutions that Nutrien Ag Solutions brings to the table at NutrienAgSolutions.com