Country World Archives 2001-2008
20 years in the making: Russell's sprig business growing
By LORI COPE | Country World East Texas
May 3, 2001 -- This spring is the 20th year Jim Russell has been in the sprig business. In 1981, he began the venture when a Hopkins County neighbor "sold out" and Russell bought some of the machinery and harvested some of the neighbor's knowledge.
Over the decades, Russell has added to what he initially learned about the sprig business by working in the business, much from trial and error.
"Every year is different," he said. "This year, it's been too wet and the weeds are bad. The last two years we've had drought. ... But that's just farming."
Russell, a former school teacher and basketball coach, went full-time in the sprig business in 1985. Today he grows and sells Tifton 85, Tifton 44, and Coastal bermuda sprigs to customers within about a 300-mile radius.
"Some people who buy the sprigs will throw them out by hand (at their farm) or they'll use a machine, a sprig setter, which puts them out in rows," Russell explained. "I've even seen them use a manure spreader."
On one dry day in mid-April, customers from Montague and Ellis counties were waiting for their load of sprigs. Charlie Pouzar and Joseph Slovacek, close neighbors with farms near Ennis, had purchased a load of Tifton 85 sprigs together. Pouzar said he will use the grass to graze his beef cattle; while Slovacek noted he will graze his 48 cows, and 32 heifers and calves, on the grass, but also bale some for hay.
Archie Scott also purchased a load of Tifton 85 sprigs. He will graze his cattle on the grass at his North Texas ranch.
The sprigs are sold by the cubic foot or by the bushel. A worker on the trailer catching the sprigs as they are harvested walks them down, much like workers did when cotton was harvested, Russell related.
Russell plants about 180 acres with the grasses that are sprigged. Plus, he puts up about 100,000 square bales that sell well to horse owners. While he bales all three grasses, the Tifton 85 is becoming a popular hay. "I'd say about nine out of 10 like the 85 better than Coastal," he said. "I'd give them a bale and let them try it; and some say that's all they will feed now."
While the hay provides income pretty much year-round, the sprigs generate income for just a few months. But that doesn't mean the work is short-term. In the early spring, Russell sprays his pastures to rid them of weeds and ryegrass. Fertilizer, although a big expense, is applied to ensure good growth on his sandy loam pastures. Plus, he soil tests "at least every two years." When the grass gets 6- to 8-inches tall, he mows the tops.
When the weather allows for the sprigs to be dug, he, along with son John and some hands (even wife Carolyn drives a tractor when needed), keep busy the orders. "Most of the time you don't know who's coming tomorrow. It will be wet, but when it gets dry enough for farmers to get in their pastures, they'll call and say they're on their way or they'll be here tomorrow," he said.
With 20 years in the sprig business - planting, harvesting, and selling - Russell said, with a grin, "You'd think the whole world would be sprigged, but it isn't."