The GROWMARK FS System is well known in the Midwest agricultural world for grain, energy and agronomy services, but maybe not so well known is its turf products and services.

“If you want to grow it, kill it, or melt it, the turf division would be who you would talk to,” says Jim Coens, Turf Department Manager for Conserv FS in Woodstock, Illinois. “If it’s a non-edible crop, we have sales people that sell into it – from golf courses, municipalities, park districts, school districts. If you play on it on the outside, we can help you with it.”

Conserv FS and at least eight other FS member companies in the GROWMARK system have turf programs with certified turf specialists like Don Michaels. “We don’t sell just ourselves as a person, we sell the concept of a team effort,” said Michaels, who stresses the importance of customer service in their business.

Conserv FS has turf accounts with some big names, like the Chicago Cubs and Bears and the Milwaukee Brewers, who have big needs. “Their fields are on show every day,” said Michaels. “So they cannot afford to have a slip up. That field always has to play safely and look pristine.”

“In GROWMARK, corn and beans rule the world, but in our world it’s playability and aesthetics,” said Coens, who says they really got into the business about 15 years ago when they noticed how much agricultural acreage was being lost to urban sprawl. “So we looked at alternatives and other markets we could get into … and we took all the wonderful things we knew in the agricultural world and brought them to people growing turf.”

The wide variety of products and services offered by the turf division include aeration and aquatics, bulk salt and ice melters, seeds, herbicides, fungicides and even fencing supplies.

Find out more in this interview with Jim and Don. Conserv FS Turf Division interview