Sod Checkoff Spotlight: The Growing Importance of Sustainability

By Casey Reynolds, PhD and Erin Heidecker

Sustainability is increasingly being used as part of purchasing decisions by consumers. Emerging research shows that if consumers do not see your product as sustainable, they are much less likely to purchase it. Inversely, if they do so see your product as sustainable not only will they purchase it—but they are willing to pay more for it!

The artificial turf industry has put significant effort into communicating benefits of going artificial, like less time maintaining your lawn, decreased water usage, reduced chemicals, etc. and simply look at the price of it. It is substantially more expensive than natural grass. What can our industry do to show that natural grass is in fact sustainable? And what can we do to increase the value of our products? The answer is simple, we just need to tell our story. The truth is that natural grass lawns and athletic fields do in fact have positive environmental contributions and can be a significant part of urban and suburban ecosystems now and in the future.

Partnering to Grow Market Share

There is no doubt that this can be made possible by partnering with a U.S. Sod Checkoff to build a sustainability story, backed by extensive research, so that consumers know the facts about natural grass.

What can our industry do to show that natural grass is in fact sustainable? And what can we do to increase the value of our products? The answer is simple, we just need to tell our story.

One of our industry’s competitors sees the value of checkoffs and is already doing this. Synthetic turf manufacturers are currently partnering with the United Soybean Board checkoff to grow their market share. Soy checkoff investments are supporting a wide range of artificial turf uses, including partnerships with sports complexes across the country. Shouldn’t our industry be doing the same? Synthetic turf manufacturers are also partnering with the USDA to promote their products, creating labels that can now claim these products contain a percentage of bio-based content. Having support from a larger entity like the USDA gives them both funding for consumer research, as well as budget to market to consumers in a way that is not being bolstered in the sod industry. What’s more bio-based than natural grass? Again, shouldn’t our industry be doing the same?

How Can the Checkoff Help Reach Consumers?

An industry-wide checkoff could fund research to better understand consumer thinking on sustainability and determine which benefits of natural grass to communicate through nationwide promotions. Having the power of research and promotion can help shift perspectives for future consumers, strengthen current markets and build new demand. Research has shown consumer familiarity with the term “sustainability” has grown steadily in recent years, but confidence in identifying sustainable products and companies is lagging. Sustainability’s importance as a purchase criterion has grown over time and, for millennials, it has become an everyday concern. Consumers also look for connections and relationships between environmental and social issues. Some of these factors include biodiversity, soil health, carbon neutrality, plastic waste, and more than 25 others. These terms are in consumers’ minds now, and our industry has a great story to tell about how natural grass fits into this complex web

of sustainability and its impact on purchasing decisions. Research from The Hartman Group shows that the percentage of consumers who consistently purchased based on sustainability has increased 12 percentage points since 2007. Going even further, almost 50 percent of millennials in 2021 identify themselves as purchasing products based on sustainability.

“Sustainability is one of the first things I think about when shopping in store and online. It can be a little more expensive and some products are sparse in quantity at times, but it’s completely worth it.” – Lancing, Millennial, The Hartman Group, Inc. Sustainability 2021

Consumers Are Decision Makers Too

Let’s also not forget that consumers are also decision makers who sit on city councils, athletic boards, school boards, etc. So, not only do they need to understand the benefits of natural grass in their own purchasing decisions, but they also have influence in building codes, model standards, public policy, etc. They need to understand the many environmental benefits that natural grass brings to home lawns, stormflow, urban heat islands, carbon capture, and more. Natural grass lawns, athletic fields, and public spaces provide important benefits in each of these areas that the public needs to know about. Consumers increasingly care about reducing plastics, environmentally friendly farming methods, protecting soil health, and more. Natural grass sod producers play a key role in many of these factors.

Telling Our Own Story

Telling our story is not just about pushing back against synthetic turf either. It is about increasing the awareness of natural grass and its many benefits, thereby increasing consumer’s willingness to continue purchasing our products--and perhaps even paying more for them. Sustainability research is nothing new, but the emergence of these trends in purchasing decisions, particularly around agricultural products, can impact everyone in our industry. Whether that impact is positive or negative may very well depend on us telling our own story instead of having someone else craft it for us.

Building promotions around research-supported ideas can have a powerful impact with today’s consumers, building their confidence in a product, and helping them feel at ease when making large purchasing decisions. Research and promotion can come together in a meaningful way with backing from a U.S. Sod Checkoff, helping to grow the industry for future generations.

Research from The Hartman Group shows that the percentage of consumers who consistently purchased based on sustainability has increased 12 percentage points since 2007. Going even further, almost 50 percent of millennials in 2021 identify themselves as purchasing products based on sustainability. Research and promotion can come together in a meaningful way with backing from a U.S. Sod Checkoff, helping to grow the industry for future generations.

Casey Reynolds, PhD, is executive director of Turfgrass Producers International.

Erin Heidecker is senior manager, client success, with CLUTCH, an agriculture marketing and consulting firm that works with several commodity checkoffs. h m

ASSOCIATION UPDATES

Turf Australia Adds a Second Animated Video

Turf Australia is the representative body of the Turfgrass Industry comprised of levy-paying turf producers and individual members Australia wide. It has added to the series of videos it has developed which talk to the far-reaching benefits of living turfgrass. These videos are aimed at anyone who may be interested in landscaping, developing, town planning, architecture and design, or simply do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement.

The second animated style video focuses on the health and wellness benefits of natural turf. We have all seen the importance of greenspace during lockdown and feel it's a good time to remind people of the importance of and benefits to a great lawn, or local park, or sports field. It has been posted to both YouTube and Facebook and can be viewed at the links that follow. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qjTekgr0ow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turfaustralia/ videos/618977482794145/

The animated style video first released by Turf Australia focuses on the many environmental benefits of natural turf. It also has been posted to both YouTube and Facebook. The first two videos released focus on the environmental and health benefits of natural turf. They feature a series of interviews with turf growers and health experts which help articulate the true value of natural grass. These videos are available in both a 3-minute and a 60-second version.

For easy access to all the Turf Australia videos, visit the Turf Australia Website Video Page at this link: https://www.turfaustralia.com.au/resources/videos/

Hort Innovation releases its SIP

Hort Innovation has released its Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) for the next five years. The turf SIP 2022-2026 provides a roadmap guiding Hort Innovation’s investment of turf industry levies and Australian Government contributions, ensuring investment decisions are aligned with industry priorities. The SIP document provides details on the outcomes, strategies, and key performance indicators for the industry for the 5-year period of the SIP. It is available at www.horticulture.com.au/turf/.

Turf Australia is Pleased to Present NxGen Conference.

NxGen is happening! Turf Australia looks forward to welcoming new and returning NxGeners to our regular conference designed to inspire and ignite learning for the next generation of turf growers. Join us in Shoal Bay, NSW from Sunday, February 20 to Tuesday, February 22, 2022, for two days of content which will help develop your skills, leadership, and support the improvement of your turf. For details click on the link that follows. www.turfaustralia.com.au/events/nxgen-2021

ETP Announces Seminars & Turf Expo

The Association of European Turfgrass Producers (ETP) has announced it will hold its Seminars & Turf Expo July 7- 8, 2022, in Pattensen, Germany. Additional details will be available soon at the ETP website link that follows. https://turfgrassproducers.eu/category/event/ ETP connects the over 700 turfgrass growers throughout Europe, many of whom are quite isolated in terms of their geography, and in terms of their interaction with other growers. Bringing all those turf growers together creates a group with considerable potential for pooling resources, learning from each other, and tackling the issues facing our industry.

TGA Summer Show in Scotland!

The Turf Growers Association (TGA) will hold its summer show at Turffit in Kinross, Scotland - UK, on July 28, 2022. See the events page for on our website at the link that follows for further details. https://turfgrass.co.uk. Formed in 1995, the TGA comprises some 50 companies (including affiliates), collectively responsible for producing approximately 70 percent of the cultivated turf grown in the British Isles and supplying specialist knowledge and infrastructure to that industry. The July 2022 event will be reminiscent of the TGA shows held in previous years with exhibitors and attendees from across the Global Turf Industry. of thef