Behind the Scenes at Local Sod Farm

   This past week, My classmates and I went on a field trip to Green Horizons Compact Sod farm in Cambridge Ontario. Before we got to the location I did not expect to see much more than a couple of big fields filled with acres of green grass. It was not 5 minutes after we got there that I realised how enormous of an operation it really is. Our tour guide was the owner Ron Sheidle, he could not have done a better job, he was full of great information about his company and was more than happy to answer any question we would ask him. When Ron started the tour he took us into the shop and began to tell us about all of their equipment. It was at that point where it really hit me that this is a multi million dollar operation. He went on to tell us that they have 40 trucks delivering 200-400 skids of sod a day! He then went on to show us the giant pile of soil that they have prepared for their big yellow bag division. I have never seen so much dirt in one place, it was amazing to see the amount of soil the tractors were adding to the pile, even in the short time that we were standing there watching. However my favourite part of the trip was at the very end. This is when we all got on the bus and went out back to one of the sod fields. He took us to see a machine called the auto stack. This is the machine that cuts, rolls, and stacks the sod and leaves a full skid to be picked up and put on the truck. When I saw how this machine operated I could not believe that such technology existed. The auto stack is true a revolutionary piece of equipment. That being said, the entire time we were watching this machine work I was truly blown away by the concept of the machine, However  I couldn't help but think to myself  " Now all we need is a machine that will lay the sod for us!". At the end of the day it was a great trip, and I am looking forward to our trip this week to The Sports Turf Association Field Day in Mississauga Ontario.

                                                     (Above) Massive soil pile
                                                     (Below) Auto Stack Machine