U.S. Sod Checkoff Program Update

WANT TO INCREASE VALUE PER ACRE?

A U.S. SOD INDUSTRY CHECKOFF CAN BE THE SOLUTION

By Kiersten Schroeder and Casey Reynolds, PhD

At the heart of every checkoff, from mangoes to blueberries, propane to paper packaging, soybeans to softwood lumber, is a mission to benefit every producer. And in turn, every producer supports the checkoff at an equal rate per acre. A group of volunteer sod producers has been working diligently the last few years to create a national sod checkoff program. The reason? To ensure long-term preference and demand for sod, even in the face of growing regulations and shifting consumer attitudes. The overall goal of the U.S. Sod Checkoff program will be to increase value and profitability per square foot for every producer involved, and programs funded by the checkoff must meet that objective. Whether it’s increasing the preference for sod over competitive products, promoting sod to consumers nationwide, conducting research to better understand consumer demands and values, or educating industry regulators and elected officials—everything ladders back to creating more value per square foot. At a local level, checkoff dollars will be used to equip producers with customizable promotional tools. Checkoff dollars will be invested by a group of 13 volunteer sod producers who make up the checkoff board of directors. Board members will represent the diversity of U.S. sod producers, including geography, type of farm, and size. One of the first responsibilities of the board will be setting strategic priorities and in turn, creating a budget. Every checkoff dollar spent will be the decision of these producer directors. And that means every checkoff program will be decided on by actual sod producers. The decision to move forward with the checkoff lives with U.S. sod producers, with a vote expected in the next year. And if approved, the decision to continue the checkoff will also live with producers, with periodic votes for continuation every seven years.

Snapshot of a Successful Checkoff

About ten years ago, U.S. softwood lumber producers made the decision to start a national checkoff program. Their number one priority was increasing demand for softwood lumber, with work focusing largely on consumer and customer promotion, converting construction projects to timber, and influencing codes and standards.

After just a decade of checkoff investments, softwood producers have seen an increase of 6.3 billion board feet (about a 25 percent increase in demand) and an incremental $2.4 billion in sales revenue. And softwood lumber advocates are currently sitting on multiple code committees and work directly with decision-making trade organizations.

Consider a Sample Sod Checkoff Budget

While a Sod Checkoff budget won’t be finalized until the checkoff is passed and a board of U.S. sod producers is seated, a group of producers created a sample budget, including priority funding areas: promotion, research, and codes and regulations.

These sample checkoff budget numbers reflect actual costs to work in these areas in a way that will have a meaningful impact. For instance, funding $3.4 million annually in research will far outpace any current research funding program in sod production. Funding $6 million in national and local natural grass promotion efforts means a substantial marketing program that professional marketing firms tell us can move the needle. This type of investment could create a national campaign and brand for our industry to compete with alternative products. Funding $1.5 million annually in building codes and regulations will allow our industry to work in the various building codes standards that currently tell consumers to limit the amount of grass they use on new projects. Lastly, this still leaves $2 million to fund local sod or other associations and universities to promote natural grass or perform local research in their area. All of this is possible with a U.S. Sod Checkoff Program! The draft order for the sod checkoffs caps administrative costs at 15 percent, but the majority of checkoffs stay at or near five percent. The estimate presented here of seven percent administrative costs includes enough funds for the checkoff board of sod producers to hire full-time staff and private contractors to manage all checkoff programs for research, promotion, compliance, building codes, market and consumer research, and more.

Of course, these are all just ideas to demonstrate the power of checkoffs! Any and all decisions involving checkoff funds or programming expenses will be made by a representative board of 13 sod producers from throughout the United States.

Do you have other ideas of what could be done through the power of a sod checkoff? Share them today at https:// sodcheckoff.org/benefits/.

U.S. Sod Checkoff Sample Budget $14,000,000

Checkoff Success

Checkoffs have seen success across multiple industries. See the graphic on the following page for just a few examples of how they’ve helped their industries grow.

Want to learn more about how the Sod Checkoff can deliver game-changing results to producers? Visit sodcheckoff.org.

Kiersten Schroeder is vice president, Reputation+Relevance, with CLUTCH, an agriculture marketing and consulting firm that works with several commodity checkoffs. Casey Reynolds, PhD, is executive director of Turfgrass Producers International.