United Horticultural Supply Expands Position In Turf Seed Market

“No other seed marketing and distribution company will have as many top quality seed products to offer in all categories,” claimed Terry Boehm, business manager for UHS, “and we will be able to serve every level of customer quality requirement, from the most elite varieties for the world's best golf courses to general reclamation needs for customers in golf course and sports turf management, professional lawn care, landscape contracting, commercial turf and sod production.”

“There are more than 100,000 acres of turfgrass production currently in place to ensure that the supply of well-known products turfgrass managers have enjoyed in the past will continue uninterrupted from UHS,” Boehm added.

According to a release by UHS, the company has more than 130 sales professionals operating from more than 75 warehouse locations in the United States and is positioned to provide timely delivery, particularly during the critical seasons.

UHS BUILDS NATIONAL SEED FOCUS. United Horticultural Supply began serving the professional turf markets in the spring of 1992. Originally, the company focused on the pesticide portion of the business, with fragmented efforts in fertilizer and turf seed. According to a UHS press release, the company has grown over the past nine years to become the second largest supplier of products to the professional turf industry.

Much effort has been devoted in the last two years to creating a national focus and developing a premium line of fertilizer products under their "Signature" brand name. Through the agreement with USP, UHS is now looking to build market share in the large grass seed segment, armed with an arsenal of many of the industry’s best-known varieties.

UHS has historically employed a regional approach in the seed business with each of its five divisions using a number of well-known turf seed suppliers, but will now focus on a nationally coordinated effort.

Premium seed offerings will be marketed under the Signature brand name, which UHS acquired the market rights to during the process of building the program. The line includes many perennial ryegrass varieties, such as Palmer III, Prelude III, Pennant II and newcomers like Phantom. The stable of elite varieties also includes Apollo, Princeton 105 and Dragon Kentucky bluegrass; Culumbra and Southport chewings fescue; Trapeze and Vista creeping red fescue; Nordic and Reliant II hard fescue; Falcon II, Shenandoah II, Gazelle and Scorpion tall fescue; and Century, Imperial and Crenshaw creeping bentgrass.

Many products will also be marketed under the general UHS label and the total available list includes more than 100 industry names. Mixtures and blends are being designed to meet local climatic and use requirements with an eye to supply and demand issues.

UHS will also introduce a new standard of seed quality to the turfgrass industry with its Signature Pure Seed TagTM. The tag accompanying all Signature branded seed products ensures that the seed is essentially free of undesirable grass and weed seed and is the turf manager's assurance they are purchasing extremely pure seed of the highest genetic quality.

USP’S INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE. United Seed Production (USP) is comprised of turf seed production, sales, marketing, research and product development. Each area of this new company employs seed experts with significant industry experience, according to the release by UHS.

One of the major components of USP is ProSeeds Marketing Inc., a seed marketing company in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. ProSeeds acquired the bulk of the turfgrass assets from the bankruptcy of ABT on Aug. 1, 2000, and was awarded the exclusive rights to more than 80 percent of ABT’s approximately 300 turfgrass varieties as well as the majority of the domestic forage grass varieties.

Combined with ProSeeds’ existing base of varieties and the newly acquired varieties, USP became the largest source for both improved turf grass genetics.

Also key to the company is one of Oregon’s largest grass seed production farms featuring an excess of 80,000 square feet of warehouse storage and the capability to blend and package 500,000 pounds of seed per day. The sales and marketing portion of the company brings an unending repertoire of seed tools to the program - most notably, a list of the best seed varieties from top breeding programs in the nation, with Rutgers University heading the list.

Working with USP as a consultant is one of the country’s noted top turf seed breeders, Dr. Virginia Lehman. She was the Lofts Seed Company’s turf grass breeder for the past 10 years, and her list of plant breeding accomplishments is extensive, including well-known ryegrass varieties Palmer III, Prelude III, Repell III and Phantom. Dr. Lehman is also responsible for co-developing well-known bentgrass varieties such as L-93, Imperial, Crenshaw, Century and Cato.

IMPACT ON THE FUTURE AND IMMEDIATE OUTLOOK. Through affiliations with the nation’s top breeding programs, UHS plans to continue to bring new and improved varieties to the market. Rutgers University has designated several of its newest improved varieties for exclusive distribution by United Horticultural Supply.

In the immediate future, UHS projects turfgrass supplies for the spring season will vary substantially by species. Turf-type tall fescue and elite Kentucky bluegrass will be in tight supply while the mid-range bluegrasses should be available in adequate quantities. Improved fine fescues and turf-type perennial ryegrasses are in ample supply and most varieties of creeping bentgrass should be available for the spring season in 2001.

For additional information about United Horticultural Supply visit www.uhsonline.com.