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June 26, 2012

Drought cutting into mowers’ business

Brian Boyce The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — The Drought of 2012 has more than creek beds drying up, as local lawn care businesses seek new streams of revenue.

Michael Stuttler, owner of Stuttler Lawn Care in Rosedale, said he and his crew is open to ideas these days.

“We’re doing about everything we can to make some money,” he said, rattling off projects ranging from trimming trees and removing brush to construction. “I’m out hustling to get the work.”

Stuttler said he and his brother usually maintain a dozen workers to handle their 200 accounts, but clients have been turning them away since May, and layoffs have resulted.

Meanwhile, his father, Larry, farms 800 acres, and that business is hurting, too.

One of the advantages of being a larger business is that Stuttler’s company has contracts in place with commercial clients, and those deals provide regular payments regardless the number of cuts needed, he explained. Some years that might mean heavier activity than normal; this year it’s lower. This spring was unseasonably warm and his crews were out cutting grass weeks before normal, he said.

Travis Norris, manager at Complete Outdoor on U.S. 41 South near Seventh Street, said in the end, the boost businesses saw this spring will probably be negated by the dry June.

But it all evens out in the long-run.

“It’s a double-edged sword because spring came early,” he said. “March was up, and I’m sure June will be down by the same measure.”

Predicting the weather is always tough, he pointed out, recalling that last summer, officials forecast a winter similar to the icy months experienced in 2010 through 2011. Those predictions proved false, and ultimately it’s just downright tough to know what will happen next, he said.

Meanwhile, his business also sells Victory Motorcycles, and that product line is booming, he said. Other products, such as the Polaris and other recreational vehicles, are making up for those related to mowing grass.

John Prox, owner of Prox Lawn Care, said about 60 percent of his clients’ lawns are irrigated, and those still require regular cutting. But overall, the lawn business is definitely down for now.

“It’s definitely slowed things down for the guys,” he said, noting he’s done his best to keep work available for his employees. But some have gone on to find other jobs this summer, and he hasn’t pushed hard to keep them, leaving spots vacant until the need returns with rain.

Prox also has been finding other work, including a recent clean-up job at Raccoon Lake, one he said wouldn’t normally be of interest. But in the hot days of a dry summer, a lawn care company does whatever it has to do.

“When the grass stops growing, the bills don’t,” he said, pointing out his insurance premiums and other expenses that are fuel-related continue the same as usual.

Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.

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