LAKE PARK — The Herring family has invested six generations into farming the land of the Peach State, and has recently announced it will be adding a new crop to its farms.

Russell Herring and his son, John Herring, will add Tift Way 419 Bermuda grass to the farms collection of grasses it produces.

Currently, the Herrings produce Bermuda hay Alicia and Tift 85 and centipede sod.

Centipede sod is the same type of grass that goes onto lawns, Russell Herring said.

“It’s the most popular in the area,” Herring said. “It’s a low-maintenance hardy grass. If you don’t mow it this week, it is pretty forgiving and won’t get real tall on you.”

The product is produced locally and used locally, he said. The freight cost of the product gets to be too high if a customer is more than 100 miles away.

The Tift Way 419 Bermuda is a “totally different” from centipede sod, he said. Commercial properties and government customers are going to Bermuda.

“It’s durable, wear resistance for foot traffic and driving traffic and drought resistant,” Herring said.

And while there are “too many varieties” of Bermuda grass to list, he said the Tift Way 419 is the most common.

Tift Way 419 should be available for purchase around mid to late summer 2018, Herring said.

While the Herring family has had six generations of farmers, the grass business is relatively new, he said.

“I was growing vegetables, and got out of that,” he said. “Even with the vegetables, we were doing hay. So we stepped up our hay and needed to expand. Hay is a type of grass, so we went with the centipede sod.”

Herring made the change because he wanted something more stable than the vegetable market.

“The vegetables are a real high input with a small percent profit,” he said. “If you hit a good market year, you can do well, but I needed something more constant.”

So, three years ago, the Herrings made the change to growing sod.

But making the change meant a few differences in how the family farmed.

“You really have to watch the fertility and the weed control,” Herring said. “Water management — keep it watered without over watering it.”

There are also downsides to the sod business.

“One down side to the sod business is you never know what you are doing for the day,” he said. “It’s got to have a home before we dig it. So, we have to be sitting on go all the time and if somebody orders it, we have to be ready to dig it.”

Digging sod also uses different equipment.

To properly dig up the sod so it can be used elsewhere, the Herrings use a vibrating blade that picks up the grass, roots and all, Herring said. From there, the sod is put onto a conveyor belt and a man on the back of the tractor stacks the sod.

Once there, the sod is stacked on a pallet and shipped to a customer, or the customer can pick it up, Herring said.

While sod is used to furnish entire yards, it is also used to repair yards where a tree or bush was removed or some sort of digging had to be done, he said.

Russell Herring Farms will sell half and quarter pallets to customers to help accommodate those who need to fill in a few patches of grass, Herring said.

And while many begin laying sod in the spring, John Herring recommends doing it in the winter.

“The top is dormant during the winter, but the roots grow year round,” he said. “During the winter when you dig it, it isn’t as hot and it doesn’t go through near as much stress and you don’t have to water it as often.”

“You don’t have the heat fact to contend with,” Russell Herring said.

During the summer, the sod can sit on a pallet for no more than 24 hours, but during the winter, it can sit for a day or two, John Herring said.

And while it can be advantageous to know that there is more time to move the sod during the winter, “we recommend putting it down immediately,” he said.

Along with the sod, the Herrings produce Bermuda hay Alicia and Tift 85.

“It’s mostly for the horse market,” Russell Herring said. “All these girls with horses — girls have got to have a horse — horses need hay.”

Russell Herring Farms is located at 7070 Herring Road. For more information, call Russell Herring at (229) 356-3017, or call John Herring at (229) 356-2231. 

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.