October 2002

Finding only hard, dry, crusty ground to work with, much of the country had a pretty dismal first two weeks of September. Thankfully, the rains came and the weather broke. Our reports indicate excellent movement overall for the second half of September and the first two weeks of October.

Regarding Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and creeping red fescues, the overall markets have been pretty stable and supportive of earlier price increases. Excessive inventory of annual ryegrass saw a slight softening in West Coast prices. Tall fescues seem to be at an acceptable price with acknowledgements that time is the only real cure for excess inventory. In general, the hope is that when all is said and done, the overall seed movement for Fall ’02 will be considered average to above average.

With harvest completed in all the crops, we now have a pretty good picture of what the overall yields were this year. Here’s a breakdown:

• Annual ryegrass – Acres about the same with higher overall yields compared to 2001 crop.
• Perennial ryegrass – Fewer acres than 2001. Yields average in the South Valley, below average in the North Valley.
• Turf-type tall fescue – Acres were up, yields were average. Excessive inventories will cause 40,000+ acres to be plowed this fall.
• Forage tall fescue – Acres above last year - including Fawn and KY-31. Yields were average to above average.
• Orchardgrass – Yields were better than expected, but still a bit below average. Acres about the same.
• Kentucky bluegrass – Overall yields were down. Acres up slightly, but overall supply less than last year.
• Red Clover – Acres down and yields below average.
• White Clover – Slight increase in acreage. Good supply of Ladino, Dutch White, etc.