A History of Turfco

Turfco was founded in 1988 by Gavin Rogers.

It commenced operations on leased ground in the Jamberoo area in late 1989; the business was later moved to the company’s first property in Berry, at Woodhill Mountain Road. Here the company started producing 40 acres of Turf, mainly Kikuyu and Couch, servicing the local markets and employing about 6 people.

Turfco leading the way

Turf farming was still a fairly new industry then and was treated by the local council as quarrying, with crazy legislation and approval processes, which at the time saw the business almost give up. However, after being successful in changing state legislation, Turfco pressed on to become one of the country's most successful turf businesses.

Throughout its history Turfco has been an industry leader; Turfco was the first turf farm in the region to introduce Couch, Fescue, Zoysia and Soft leaf Buffalo to the region.

When Turfco commenced all turf was harvested by walk behind harvesters with turf being hand rolled on the ground then manually hand loaded and unloaded on trucks. In 1993 Turfco imported the first automatic harvester from the states and today all turf is harvested by machines that harvest and deliver turf on a conveyor belt. The turf is quality checked on the belt and placed on pallets and forklift loaded onto trucks. These state of the art machines even have laser guided steering and don't require a driver when harvesting- today turf harvesting is not the back breaking job it once was.

Turfco and Sir Walter

Turfco were also among the first growers in the country selected to grow Sir Walter back in 1999 when it was a new and un-heard-of grass. Today it has become Australia's favourite lawn. Sir Walter now makes up the majority of home lawn sales at Turfco mainly due to its high quality appearance and great shade tolerance.

Truly locally owned and operated

2005 was a historical year for Turfco, with a management buyout of the company. This means that when customers deal with representatives of Turfco they are also dealing with the owners of the business. Turfco truly is owned by it's best ambassadors – its staff, and this shows in the care and attention paid to every customer need by this team of skilled, local professionals.

Turfco intends to still be taking care of its customers in the Shoalhaven, Illawarra and Southern Highlands in another 25 years, and will continue to lead the way in the industry through use of the latest technology and knowledge, combined with the highest levels of service.