Green Industry Means Big Bucks

LANSING, Mich. – Thawing February temperatures are giving Michigan residents a glimpse of grass for the first time in weeks, and the state’s turf industry professionals are ready to turn that brown sod to green – both literally and figuratively.

A study by the state Department of Agriculture found that lawns and other grassy areas soak up $1.8 billion a year in fertilizer, pesticides, seed and other costs. Residential lawns alone occupy nearly 1.6 million acres in the state, and homeowners spend $1.3 billion keeping those lawns lush and green, according to the survey.

But according to Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association, the trend is not isolated to Michigan turf.

“It’s safe to say people are spending more on their lawns,” Butterfield explained. The National Gardening Association is a non-profit organization based in Burlington, Vt. “...I think it’s a feel-good kind of thing, especially after 9-11,” he continued. “They’re saying, ‘I can’t control what happens in the big world, but I can at least control what happens in my back yard.”

Approximately 59 million U.S. households do their own lawn care, and nearly 20 million hire lawn care companies. Nationally, the “do-it-yourself” portion of lawn and yard care costs $39.6 billion. Overall, landscaping and lawn care is a $69 billion industry.

“My sense is they’re doing more of everything in the yard,” Butterfield observed. “It enhances people's investment in their property, makes it more livable, and gives them something to talk about with the neighbors.”

According to the Michigan Agriculture Department study, the state’s homeowners spent $116 million for fertilizer, $44 million for pesticides and $55 million for seed and sod in 2002. Private residences also accounted for more than $400 million in yard care equipment purchases, and $226 million in contracted services.

The report, titled the Michigan Turfgrass Survey, was compiled for the first time last year. It will be repeated every fifth year as part of a rotating series of surveys, explained Vince Matthews, deputy director of the Michigan Agricultural Statistics Service.

Source: Excerpts from The Lansing Bureau