Sod Solutions' business objective is to research, develop, release and promote superior new warm season cultivars of turf for residential, commercial, and sports use. Sod Solutions licenses producers in strategic locations throughout the United States and abroad with the objective to provide superior products, balance supply with demand, and to develop affective marketing programs for value added products.

Palmetto_® St. Augustine, which is grown by licensed producers and is still available to other producers on a limited scale, is a dark green, cold hardy variety with massive root structure and improved shade tolerance. It thrives in sandy, clay, or muck soil types. It has a good tolerance to gray leaf spot. Currently there are 3,000 acres in production.

Sod Solutions, Inc. and Itograss Agricola LTDA of Sao Paulo, Brazil have announced a joint venture release of two unique Zoysia Grasses into the United States. The grasses, named Empire_® and Empress_®, were developed in a hot and humid region of Brazil. "Both grasses are a result of several years of research and were developed from a native Brazilian Zoysia Japonica grass," comments Tobey Wagner, president of Sod Solutions Inc. "Empire is a very large bladed turfgrass with an open growth habit, which is rare in the Zoysia family. Empress is a small fine bladed Japonica grass similar to the Emerald Matrella variety."

Empire and Empress are rapid growers, making them more economical to the producer and self-repairing for the user. The Zoysia grasses have shown natural chemical resistance to common herbicides, which will reduce the cost of weed control to the producer and maintenance to the consumer.

Sod Solutions and Itograss have been working together to develop improved varieties of Zoysia grasses for homeowners, athletic fields, and the golfing industry. "Most available Zoysia grasses were developed in cooler or lower stress environments," comments Wagner. "These new grasses have been tested in hot humid environments and were screened for common production problems related to heat stress and nematodes.

Patents are currently pending for both Empire (the larger bladed variety) and Empress (the smaller bladed variety). Expected release dates from the USDA quarantine facility are in September or October of this year.