ALBANY, Ore. – Farmers in the Willamette Valley are facing rising fertilizer costs, adding pressure to local grass seed production. The region is known for producing about three-fourths of the world’s grass seed, but these increased expenses are creating financial strain.
“Prices for the past several years on grass seed crops have been very, very low,” said Christy Taner, Associate Professor of Practice at OSU Extension. “And the seed hasn’t been selling as well as people would like. And so, financially things have been tight.”
Kent Burkholder, who operates a fifth-generation grass seed farm in Albany, is concerned about the uncertainty from fertilizer distributors…