New Homes Prove Boon to Maryland Turfgrass Industry

The same new homes that are gobbling up farmland across Maryland at an alarming rate have provided a boon to the turf grass industry, an often-overlooked sector of the state's agriculture industry.

An estimated 1.1 million acres - nearly 20 percent of Maryland's land base - is covered by maintained grass, and by far the greatest portion adorns the yards of single-family homes, according to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The study also concluded that turf grass is a $1.5 billion industry in Maryland, in terms of dollars spent on equipment and the production, maintenance and use of turf grass products and services.

The industry accounts for an estimated 12,730 jobs, two-thirds of them full-time positions, and wages topped $291 million in 2005, the period covered by the report.

"Life is full of Catch-22s," said Eugene B. Roberts Jr., a member of the Maryland Agricultural Commission, when asked about turf farmers supplying grass to new homes sprouting on fields where cows once grazed or crops grew.

Grass is a large component of the so-called green industry, which includes nurseries and greenhouses and is the fastest-growing segment of farming in the state over the past five years, he said.

The survey estimates that 937,000 acres of turf grass in Maryland are used for lawns for single-family homes. This represents 82.6 percent of all the maintained grass in the state.

County government properties come in a distant second with 78,200 acres or 6.9 percent of the total.

Driven by one of the hottest real estate development markets in the country, Maryland has the sixth-most-expensive farmland in the nation, according to a USDA survey released last year.

While the housing market has been good for suppliers of grass, it has been taking a heavy toll on the state's farmland. Maryland has been losing farmland at a rate nearly four times that of the nation as a whole in recent years.

State officials have pointed to the high value of land and the resulting loss of farmland as the biggest threat to Maryland agriculture.

Mary Ellen Setting, assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture, stressed the positive side of the turf grass survey. She said the report was "the most comprehensive picture to date of the scope and economic importance of the state's turf grass industry."

"It shows that this segment of the 'green' industry is a significant contributor to the state's work force, economy and land use," she said. "Sod farmers are the foundation of a large and growing industry that has great benefit to the environment as well."

The dense root system of grass makes it very efficient at controlling erosion, the study said. It also improves water quality by filtering runoff and contaminants that could pollute groundwater and the Chesapeake Bay.

Other findings of the study:

• Nearly 31,000 acres of new turf were installed in 2005 at an expense of $89 million. Single-family homes accounted for 28,190 acres.
• Lawn care companies employed the most workers - 5,800 - followed by golf courses with 2,330 and schools with 1,200 turf maintenance workers.
• Golf courses spend more than any other sector on turf maintenance: more than $5,000 an acre per year.

Roberts said the survey was done to quantify the contributions of turf grass to the state's economy in hope that the University of Maryland would continue its research in support of the industry.