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If I Win the Lottery
Kenneth, I could have been a little clearer, it is a 3 year cycle here too, you plant in the first year, feed, cut & wait in years 2 & 3 and harvest during 3rd year.
However, you can't harvest the whole crop (field), prepare the soil and be ready to plant early enough in the year to be able to start the cycle over again in the 3rd year.
So you lose that season and it is then a 4 year cycle.
We had tobacco here for years too, luckily we got a very good offer to buy our quota so we jumped at the chance. I don't think I can recall ever doing a job on the farm more unpleasant and physically demanding than bringing in tobacco. Yech!!!
Best of luck.
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Murf; With the local home building frenzy in and around Cedar Rapids, sod farms are springing up like weeds here too. I've always wondered how much topsoil goes with a roll of sod? No criticisim intended, just curious. Frank.
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Frank, no worries, we get that question all the time.
A single harvest of turf takes a 3/8" slice of topsoil with it. So it would take a long time to do much serious damage.
However we are more responsible than a lot of operations, we have a deal with several of the large construction and 'factory' farms near us, we put probably more than that back in top-dressing with topsoil, sand and compost which is surplus from construction site near us.
I have put down over 5,000 tri-axle loads of material just this year alone.
Best of luck.
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Murf,
"5,000 tri axles" but Murf you farm the eastern half of Canada.  kt
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I do indeed Kenneth, but we have big weight restrictions on trucks here.
Dump trucks can't haul anything more than 10 yards on a tandem rear end, they can get up to nearly 15 yards on a tri-axle.
During the few weeks of spring thaw when the frost is coming out of the ground we are further restricted to 5 tons per axle on all but the biggest main roads and highways, period. Not even municipal or government trucks can exceed that.
Most people in the construction industry just take a month off as their spring break.
Best of luck.
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Murf,
I always wondered how do Turf farms get rid of grass like weeds (goose grass, nut grass etc.). Pre emergents? What chemicals.
Dennis
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Dennis; I heard Murf say that he has geese and squirrels that take care of the goose and nut grass. Just couldn't resist that one. Yes that is a good queation. The sod farms I drive past don't have weed one in an 80 acre field.
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It's the quack grass that's the problem, those quacks are a PITA to deal with, and they don't eat very fast. 
Touche!!!
Seriously, or as serious as I can get after that.
We use a variety of stuff, mostly just good old fashioned Glycosulfate, before planting and some 2,4-D early on, then just feed the daylights out of it, grass is a very competitive plant and a healthy crop doesn't need much help to choke out the competition.
Generally speaking we use 2,4-D in the early fall of the first year and again in the spring of the second year, and nothing further is required.
The key is the preparation of the seedbed and the maintenance once it comes up, after the turf is well established it can fend quite well on it's own. The big problem is that the super healthy turf we grow takes more nutrients than even the best topsoil can provide for long. If you take a sample of your topsoil from your lawn into the local County Extension office and tell them you want to grow really good turf, they will tell you how much of what per acre you need to apply. We fertilize mostly by spraying manure tea on the fields, something the average person wouldn't want done on their lawn. It gets rather... well....aromatic.
Basically speaking, quack grass of any kind, or weeds in general are a sign that the grass is not strong enough, and that means it needs more fertilizer.
With a good program of a quality 'weed'n'feed' applied according to the manufacturers recomended quantities and frequency will guarantee you a MUCH better lawn with fewer weeds.
Best of luck.
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Murf, it is my guess you don't scalp the grass either in your mowing. A lot of homeowners here like their grass short, which tends to let weed seeds sprout very easy. Most have no idea at what height their variety of grass does best. Matter of fact some lawnmowers tend to not have sufficient high setting for some grasses. kt
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