Volume15.04

April 2015

April 2015

Ravin’ about TLC and the Titans

It happened again. Yesterday we received an unsolicited comment about our TLC tall fescue blend.

“Established a yard from caliche/sandy soil with your TLC Blend last fall here in the southern most part of New Mexico. I am stunned how well it had turned out. Strangers are continually stopping by knocking on my door and asking me how in the world I ended up with a lawn looking like something out of Better Homes & Garden. I am sold on your product. Thank you!” - Kirk, Las Cruces, NM

Not to boast, but we’ve been getting these types of comments for years. One lady in Myrtle Beach, SC has sent multiple e-mails and photos over the last year. In 2009, a homeowner in Louisville, KY made his own signs and gave them to his local dealer. When we went out to visit him, he showed us five other lawns that had been replanted with Titan genetics after he planted his yard. In 2011, a Georgia resident told us that our seed turned his lawn “into a showpiece” and now many of his friends have purchased Titan Rx for their yards.

Finally, I’m convinced my Titan Rx lawn helped sell my house. In addition to the many people, including realtors, who would rave about our front yard, the buyers of our house did two things that caught my attention.

The first one happened during the home inspection. Instead of walking through the house with the inspector, they took their two young children and sat out in the backyard on a blanket. This is the same backyard that “wouldn’t grow anything” according to my neighbor four years prior before we renovated it. The second came at the time of the final walkthrough, when the buyer asked me for instructions as to how to maintain the lawn; they didn’t want to lose such a pretty lawn. It was clear that they were not used to having a nice lawn and considered it as one of the important assets of the house they were buying.

As distributors and dealers, these types of real-life stories are important to share with your staff, dealers and end users. Our tall fescue varieties, including the Titan’s, Hudson, Covenant II, Rendition Rx and our TLC blend are good products - really good. With a growing audience of happy consumers, selling and promoting tall fescues from Smith Seed has never been easier!

Cover Crops Need Correct Rhizobium

“Seed inoculation of legume cover crops is often not practiced given the high organic matter soils in most parts of Iowa, however, results from this study indicate significant improvement in biomass and N contribution by clover cover crops if seeds are inoculated with appropriate Rhizobium strains.” - Ajay Nair, Iowa State University

NOTE: HIGH ORGANIC MATTER SOIL IS NOT ENOUGH! These words are from the result of a recent IA State study evaluating the role of inoculation on crimson, medium red, and yellow blossom sweet clover (YBSC) when used as cover crops. Seeds were planted both with and without the correct Rhizobium. While the data showed little difference in percent N or in the C:N ratio after 90 days, there was a significant difference in the cover crop biomass and the nitrogen contribution. Specifically, for YBSC biomass was 4,751 lb/A compared to 3,167 lb/A and N contribution was 93 lb/A vs. 62 lb/A. This data is just one more reason to enhance your legumes with Nitro-Coat®. With Nitro-Coat®, farmers can achieve increased biomass and higher levels of nitrogen contribution. Learn more at NitroCoat.com.