Sod shortage worsens in Twin Cities

Boyd Huppert, KARE 6:29 p.m. EDT July 18, 2014

Sod shortage(Photo: KARE)

NORTHBRANCH, Minn. - The contraption lumbering across this Chisago County field is known as Sod Harvester. This year it could also be called a treasure hunter.

"trying to search around for any bit of sod we can possibly cut," says the machine's driver, Harley Johnson.

Johnson is a third generation sod farmer, in business with his father and sister, at HD Sod in Hugo.

The family's product has never been in shorter supply.

"it's been pretty rough," says Harley's father, also named Harley. "We had about 13 inches of rain and that's what really held us back."

That heavy rain flooded out newly seeded fields while keeping harvesters off soggy ground.

"On this side of the field over here, it's still too wet and soft," says the younger Johnson, pointing from the cab of the harvester."It's a good year that there's a lot of people needing sod, but a bad year that we just don't have it."

The seeds for a sod shortage were actually being sowed several years back. During the great recession new home construction waned. With fewer lawns to cover, sod farmers plowed up their grass to plant corn and soybeans, commodities which were rising in price at the time.

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Sod shortage worsens in Twin Cities