Invesco Field (now Sports Authority Field), Coors Field, Target Field, Kauffman Field, Wrigley Field — all are major league sports stadiums. Some, such as Chicago’s Wrigley Field, are legendary. Others, such as Target Field in Minnesota, are newer but already making a name for themselves.
What do they have in common? Grass grown in Colorado. Who could have known back in the late ’70s that a small sod farm in northeastern Colorado would grow to become one of only a few growers in the country to keep our nation’s pro and college sports stadiums green?
This small, local company didn’t start out answering calls from groundskeepers for the Chicago Cubs or Notre Dame and other National Collegiate Athletic Association colleges. Graff’s Turf Farms started with Randy Graff, who is now retired and serving as a Morgan County Rural Electric Association board member. He was a young man back then, looking for his life’s calling when he found a love for growing things while working on a Fort Morgan farm. He enjoyed the work and longed for a farm of his own.
It wasn’t an easy dream to realize. There were some difficulties and when opportunity knocked in the form of a job at a sod farm in Denver, Randy took it. For a couple of years, he learned a new kind of farming.
“I enjoyed my time spent working for a sod farm and decided to come back to Fort Morgan and start my own sod farm,” Randy remembered. When Randy and his wife, Betsy, founded their sod farm in 1979, Randy worked to build his knowledge of the business and help his business take root. He signed up for classes at Colorado State University and attended seminars and conferences to learn about the grasses and products associated with sod farming.
His efforts paid off and everything was ready when Graff’s Turf Farms landed its first job as a business laying grass for a residence in Brush, just northeast of Fort Morgan. Everything grew from there. With each new project, Randy and his employees developed new skills and gained more experience, allowing them to perfect their particular process for laying turf. According to James Graff, Randy and Betsy’s son who is now co-owner of the company with longtime employee Marty Thiels, each step of the process is crucial in determining the quality of the grass and the level of success when the turf is laid. Experience has taught them that the most important part of the process is the soil. “The reason soil preparation is so important is because lots of grasses are available, all serving different purposes,” said James. “With each type of grass, quality turf is recognized through adequate soil preparation. Soil preparation determines the quality of the turf once laid. Therefore, lots of explanation and training goes into soil preparation here at Graff’s Turf Farms,” said James. As he explained, if there are difficulties when the turf is laid, it’s usually because of the soil.
“Sometimes the soil is in poor shape or condition, making it difficult to work with. For instance, heavy clay and rocky soil are very difficult to work with, but it can be done,” James said. The Graffs found ways to get it done and to get it done well. With a growing reputation, the company did some work close to home in Greeley, resodding the University of Northern Colorado sports fields. Those were the fields where the Denver Broncos practiced. Word started spreading that the sandy composition of the soil on their farm was excellent for growing the perfect turf for sports facilities and golf courses that need to drain quickly and keep their durability. At the same time, sports turf standards were changing.
The Fort Morgan company’s high-quality grasses thick-cut in wide rolls were proving to be just what sports stadiums needed. “In the sports turf world, word of mouth travels well,” said James. “When the quality is good — good color, good texture, good sustainability — the word travels to other stadium owners who are looking for quality grass, and one field leads to another.” That is how Graff’s Turf Farms got to lay the sod for all of Colorado’s pro sports stadiums and fields as well as numerous others nationwide. Graff’s Turf Farms landed its first major league contract at the old Mile High Stadium, the previous home of the Broncos. Once the word spread about the job they did at Mile High, the Graffs heard from three other major league stadiums that wanted their turf. The first to call was Coors Field, which was under construction as the new home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team. Up next was Kauffman Stadium where the Kansas City Royals play baseball. The third stadium to call was Soldier Field where the Bears played football in Chicago. Laying the grass for Soldier Field was a big break because this field was set to hold the opening games for the 1994 World Cup series in soccer.
This is when we realized this was a big deal, that we had something special,” Randy said. From there, the work expanded and Graff’s Turf Farms was hired to lay the turf for the remaining Colorado professional sports stadiums and fields, as well as for numerous college and pro stadiums throughout the Midwest. And the relationships continue. “We do repairs for [all of the fields and stadiums] after different events happen or after normal wear and tear,” James noted. “Sometimes the fields will host concerts or other sporting events and these events tend to damage the fields, making them in great need of repairs. Through either minor repairs or major repairs, we have a continued relationship with all the fields and stadiums.”
While the turf farm was making a name for itself in the exciting world of pro sports, it never overlooked the residential and business customers in its own backyard. And those customers benefited from the expertise that was growing as the company’s reputation expanded. As James pointed out, it doesn’t matter whether the company is providing sod for a home, a business or a sports stadium. “The concepts are the same for all types of turf laying,” he said. “It’s the soils that are different, giving you different outcomes. For instance, sports stadium turf is built on sand to allow for drainage, which means quicker and better playability after weather whereas residential turf is laid on the pre-existing native soils so you must compromise to meet the kind of soil you have.”
Another difference between laying turf for the different sectors of the business is time. Highly detailed planning goes into laying turf for the sports stadiums in order to provide turf that will withstand the competitions, concerts and other events held on those fields And for sports, the sod chosen must provide the best playability for each sport. For these reasons, commercial and residential jobs are considerably quicker and easier than sports jobs. In its 32 years in the sod farm industry, Graff’s Turf Farms has provided the green grass for countless homes, businesses and fields. Each job has been special for that specific customer, but James does admit some are more exciting than others. While the employees at Graff’s swear they don’t have a favorite field, the work at Wrigley Field in Chicago and the Colorado sports stadiums and fields have always held a special place in the employees’ memories.
“Wrigley Field was one of my favorite fields to lay turf for simply because there is so much history at the field,” James said. “So many great players within the history of baseball have stepped foot on those fields, making it a great opportunity to be at such a field.” And then there is home. “All the local Colorado sports stadiums and fields are also very special to us because it is great to give back to our home state,” James added. Giving back is part of every job Graff’s Turf Farms completes. “Our farm is founded on all sectors,” James noted. “Here at Graff’s Turf Farms, seeing a satisfied family with a new yard is just as gratifying as seeing sports teams pleased with the grass they have to play and compete on.” This approach toward conducting business and serving people by upholding the values of quality, service and customer satisfaction is at the heart of everything Graff’s Turf Farms does.
It is the reason the company has a great reputation for the perfect turf for yards of all kinds.
Brenda Rohn, a 2011 graduate of Wiggins High School in Wiggins, was editor-in-chief of her school newspaper for the past two years and has written for her local newspaper. She will study journalism this fall at The University of Denver in Denver.