Payne Sod Farm, Inc.

What Payne Sod Farm, Inc. does

Payne Sod Farm, Inc. is a second-generation, family-owned sod producer operating a 200-acre farm in Manteno, Illinois, on the south side of Chicago. Founded by Ron Payne in 1975 and joined by his son Justin in 2000, the company harvests and sells a portfolio of turfgrass varieties including 365ss Kentucky Bluegrass, RTF Rhizomatous Tall Fescue, HGT Healthy Grass Technology, HD Sports 2.0, and four creeping bentgrass cultivars (007XL, Centennial, Tillinghast, PureSelect) for residential lawns, golf courses, sports venues, and commercial properties. The farm also acts as an authorized dealer for Progressive Turf Equipment.

Operations are mechanized around Trebro Autostack harvesting equipment, GPS-guided automation, and a 42-inch semi-automated big roll machine, enabling efficient dual-roll cutting and large-format sports turf jobs. Sod is sold to homeowners, landscapers, commercial builders, golf courses, and Big Ten / professional sports venues via a sales-led motion through phone and email, with prices quoted per order; standard rolls cover 10 square feet and big rolls cover 250-300 square feet. Exclusive variety partnerships with Scotts (ProVista, 2018), Barrenbrug and Sod Solutions (HGT, 2013), Tee-2-Green (PureSelect), and RTF Sod anchor the product line. The company hosted the Turfgrass Producers International annual summer show in 2013 with 400+ international attendees.

Name

Payne Sod Farm, Inc.

Legal name

Payne Sod Farm, Inc.

Website

https://paynesodfarm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Payne Sod Farm is a second-generation, family-owned 200-acre sod producer in Manteno, Illinois, supplying Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, and bentgrass varieties to homeowners, landscapers, golf courses, and professional and collegiate sports venues across the Chicago metropolitan area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Turfgrass Sod Production

NAICS

Other Crop Farming (1119)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Sod, Turfgrass & Groundcover Production (AFAGAHAL)

Keywords

• Turfgrass sod production
• Sod farming services
• Sports turf supply
• Golf course turf
• Bluegrass sod varieties

Headquarters

HQ city

Manteno

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Sod Sales: One-time sale of sod products harvested to order. Customers purchase sod rolls in various sizes for immediate installation. Sod is a living plant requiring ground contact and moisture to survive.
2. Turf Grass Seed Sales: Sale of turf grass seed including seed mixtures designed for specific applications. The same blends used in their fields are available for clients wanting to address other areas.
3. Equipment Sales: Authorized dealer for Progressive Turf Equipment Inc., selling mowing and turf maintenance equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Payne Sod Farm is a second-generation turfgrass sod producer operating a 200-acre farm in Manteno, Illinois. The company grows, harvests, and sells multiple varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, rhizomatous tall fescue, and creeping bentgrass sod in standard and big roll formats, along with turfgrass seed and related equipment, serving residential, commercial, golf, and sports turf customers primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Product overview

Payne Sod Farm, Inc. is a second-generation sod producing farm serving the Chicago area with quick delivery, quality sod, and family business customer service. The company operates a multi-product portfolio focused on turfgrass sod and seed for residential lawns, golf courses, sports turf, and low-maintenance applications. Core products include four primary turf varieties: 365ss Kentucky Bluegrass Blend, RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue), HGT (Healthy Grass Technology), and HD Sports 2.0 for sports applications. Golf-specific products include 007XL, Centennial, Tillinghast, and PureSelect creeping bentgrass varieties. The company sells sod in two roll formats—Standard Roll (10 sq ft, 24"x60") for manual installation and Big Roll (250-300 sq ft) for machine-assisted large projects. Additional offerings include Progressive Turf Equipment sales as an authorized dealer. The company specializes in residential lawns, golf courses and sports turf, and low maintenance turf segments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Progressive Turf Equipment Dealer: Payne Sod Farms is an Authorized Dealer for Progressive Turf Equipment Inc.

Products and services

• 365ss Kentucky Bluegrass Blend Ultimate Kentucky bluegrass blend combining top-rated NTEP varieties Bolt, Legend, and Blue Note. Features low-input turf varieties with excellent wear tolerance and rapid establishment, suitable for sod production, sports fields, home lawns, and overseeding.
• RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue) Advanced generation turf-type tall fescue producing rhizomes that enable self-repairing turf with strong, deep root systems. Features excellent drought and heat tolerance, shade adaptability, and endophyte-enhanced insect and disease resistance.
• HGT (Healthy Grass Technology) Kentucky bluegrass engineered for superior turf health with exceptional resistance to summer patch, insects, and disease. Offers unrivaled traffic tolerance and exceptional spring green-up for home, commercial, golf, and sports applications.
• HD SPORTS 2.0 High density performance sports turf blend of Hampton Kentucky bluegrasses (The Root Monster) and elite varieties. Delivers extremely wear and traffic tolerant turf with rapid recovery from hard play, suitable for mowing heights from 0.5" to 2.5".
• 007XL Creeping Bentgrass Super Bent variety bred at Rutgers University for superior disease resistance. Recommended for greens, tees, and fairways with excellent putting quality, Poa annua resistance, and 50% less fungicide usage compared to older varieties.
• Centennial Creeping Bentgrass Blend Creeping bentgrass blend of Piper and Oakley varieties providing genetic biodiversity for consistent, uniform playing surfaces. A-List approved with superior disease resistance, excellent spring greenup, and exceptional density for greens, tees, and fairways.
• Tillinghast Creeping Bentgrass Creeping bentgrass (DLFPS-AP-3084) demonstrating excellent turf quality under putting green and fairway management. Features fine texture, medium-dark green color, superior disease resistance to dollar spot, brown patch, and pink snow mold, with early spring green-up.
• PureSelect Bentgrass Premium bentgrass from Tee-2-Green with striking medium green color and fine leaf texture suitable for greens, tees, and fairways. Features exceptional salt tolerance, proven germination in elevated salts and high bi-carb soils, and strong disease, heat, cold, and wear resistance.
• Standard Roll Sod Standard sod roll measuring 24 inches wide by 60 inches long, covering 10 square feet. Designed for easy manual handling during residential and commercial installation projects.
• Big Roll Sod Large-format sod rolls available in 250 sq ft (30 inch width) and 300 sq ft (42 inch width) sizes. Requires machine-assisted installation for efficiency on large commercial, sports turf, and golf course projects.
• Turf Grass Seed Sales Sale of turf grass seed including the same seed mixtures used in their fields, available for clients wanting to address other areas and match their existing lawn. Designed for specific applications including residential lawns, golf course, sports turf, and low maintenance turf.
• Progressive Turf Equipment Authorized dealer offering Progressive Turf Equipment Inc. mowing and turf maintenance equipment for sale to customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sod establishes and becomes accustomed to new home after 90 days

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Scotts / ProVistaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018In 2018, Payne Sod Farm partnered with Scotts to bring ProVista to the Chicago market - the first bluegrass of its type. Described as a game changer for years to come.
• Turfgrass Producers InternationalflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Payne Sod Farm hosted the Turfgrass Producers International annual summer show in July 2013. More than 400 vendors and sod growers from all over the world attended the display set up in the 200-acre field in rural Manteno. This established the farm at an international level.
• Barrenbrug and Sod SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to offer HGT (Healthy Grass Technology) Kentucky bluegrass hybrid grass variety starting in 2013. Hundreds of golf courses, several colleges, and professional sports venues use this HGT bluegrass across the country.
• Progressive Turf Equipment InccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPayne Sod Farm is an Authorized Dealer for Progressive Turf Equipment Inc., offering mowing and turf maintenance equipment for sale to customers.
• RTF Sod (Seed Company)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to offer RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue) sod product starting in 2014. This highly productive tall fescue with rhizomes helped fill a void in the market for high quality tall fescue.
• Tee-2-GreencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPure Select bentgrass produced by Oregon's top growers. Tee-2-Green bentgrasses exceed standards of general certified seed, free of Poa-annua, Poa trivialis, and all noxious weed seeds.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Sod Solutions: Turfgrass research and licensing company that developed HGT (Healthy Grass Technology), one of Payne's flagship varieties. Comparable because it sits directly upstream of sod production; both companies market hybrid bluegrass to golf courses and sports venues.

Regional players

• NG Turf: Georgia-based sod producer serving the Southeast with a comparable turf portfolio (bluegrass, fescue, bermuda, zoysia) and similar customer segments including golf courses and homebuilders. Same product/customer model but located in a different US region.
• Bethel Farms: Family-run Florida sod producer growing multiple turf varieties for residential, golf, and sports end-markets. Comparable in product mix and end-customer set but operates in the Southeast rather than the Midwest, so non-overlapping geography.
• Emerald Sod Farms: Colorado-based family-run sod farm growing bluegrass, fescue, and specialty turf for residential and sports customers. Same owner-operated family farming model and product mix as Payne, though serving the Mountain West rather than the Midwest.
• King Ranch Turfgrass: Florida-based sod producer with a similar bentgrass and bluegrass portfolio marketed to golf and sports venues. Directly comparable product set and end customers, with geographic separation from Payne's Chicago metro footprint.
• Woerner Turf & Landscape Supply: Southeast-focused sod farm and landscape supply distributor operating in Alabama and the Gulf states. Comparable business model combining turf production with supply/equipment distribution into overlapping trade and homeowner end-markets.

Direct peers

• West Coast Turf: One of the largest US sod producers, operating multiple farms across Arizona, California, and Nevada. Directly comparable as a multi-region turfgrass grower with a comparable product range (bluegrass, fescue, bentgrass, sports turf) and overlapping end customers including golf courses and sports venues.

Broad incumbents

• Scotts Miracle-Gro: National lawn care and seed conglomerate that owns ProVista — the premium bluegrass Payne partners to bring to market. Larger incumbent with overlapping turf genetics and channel presence; comparable upstream/partner overlap though not a same-segment sod grower.

Others

• SiteOne Landscape Supply: Largest US distributor of landscape and turf maintenance products, including the types of equipment Payne sells through its Progressive Turf Equipment dealership. Comparable as a channel into landscapers, golf courses, and sports-turf maintenance buyers.
• Turfgrass Producers International: Industry trade association Payne hosted in 2013 (400+ vendors/growers in attendance). Comparable as the primary industry convener and a strong signal of Payne's standing in the sod-producing category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PayneSodFarm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/payne-sod-farm-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Payne Sod Farm, Inc.