The Hammonton Gazette 08/15/18 Edition | Page 5

Tuckahoe Turf Farm’s sod in many major sports parks, stadiums Page 4 • Wednesday, August 15, 2018 • The Hammonton Gazette TURF, from Page 1 about 720 of the farm’s 800 cultivated acres are dedicated to producing 25 million square-feet of high-quality sod that is custom- grown and meticulously maintained atop a bed of porous, sandy loam soil before it is cut into swaths, rolled up, loaded on to refrigerated trucks and shipped to athletic fields in 13 states throughout the United States. In 1980, Tom and George Betts purchased land in Hammonton to grow sod due to the availability of water and ideal soil conditions in the area. Forty-nine years prior, an ancestor of theirs named Walter Betts founded a family farm in Estell Manor that was primarily a vegetable farm until 1967, when sod production first began. The Betts family still owns Tuckahoe Turf Farm to this day, and ever since main operations shifted to Hammonton 38 years ago, they have continually set an industry standard for sod production that pivoted to focus primarily on athletic field turf during the late 1990s when a Rutgers University graduate came and did an experiment at Tuckahoe Turf Farms. That individual began working for the University of Michigan and helped develop a sand-based playable surface at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Rutgers graduate suggested Tuckahoe Turf Farms as a place to get the new sod. The University of Michigan professionals requested soil samples from the farm as well, which introduced the utility of using a lighter, sand-based soil to lay sod on, and also introduced Tuckahoe Turf Farms’ sod to one of the researchers at the university, who went on to become president of a major national sports turf organization. “Most sod forms are heavy soils. So, when it rains, it doesn’t drain well and all that. This person from Rutgers was actually here doing a little experiment back in the day and they go, ‘Hey, I know a place. It’s weird but it’s all the way in Hammonton, N.J.’ So, they asked us for some soil samples, and we soon found out that we have this sandy loam soil, which is just what they were putting in the stadium. So, that was our first long-haul, major-profile sports stadium,” Allen Carter Jr., farm manager at Tuckahoe Turf Farms, said. Word about Tuckahoe Turf Farms’ sod and soil spread quickly throughout the sports turf scene, and it wasn’t long before many more sports teams began calling Tuckahoe Turf Farms to purchase sod for their fields. Carter Jr. said the decision to primarily focus on growing sports turf was originally made as a last-ditch effort to avoid downsizing amid the decline in the economy that occurred about 10 years ago. “What really made us focus was that downturn in the market. We had to do something. We were at the point where we were either going to close half the farm, or start laying people off. So, we pivoted our market, and right now, the demand for that is still good,” Carter Jr. said. Today, about 70 percent of the revenue generated at Tuckahoe Turf Farms is generated by sports turf production. About 15 years ago, only 20 percent of the farm’s sod production was sports-related. Tuckahoe Turf Farms’ sports turf production has continued to advance and develop over recent years. About seven years ago, the farm made a significant breakthrough by creating an advanced grade of bluegrass sod See TUCKAHOE, Page 14 SOLD! 800 S. White Horse Pike (Crowley Center), P.O. Box 1119 • Hammonton • 561-0505 • [email protected] • www.CrowleyCarr.com Congratulations MANNY BERMUDEZ on the purchase of your home! Thank you for putting your trust in Crowley & Carr. “The Best Place in Town to Find the Best Place in Town.” With nearly 30 years in business, who better to guide you on all your Real Estate needs than the CROWLEY & CARR REAL ESTATE TEAM!