Walter Bass, Jr.
Virginia Farmer of the Year 2024
Four generations of the Bass family have farmed in the small town of Gladys, Virginia for just over 100 years. Bass Sod Farm, designated a Century Farm, is comprised of 2313 rented and owned acres that grew tobacco for much of its history. Today it produces superior quality sod along with expert installation service. Walter Bass, Jr. and his sons, Allen and W.B., lead a team of fifteen professionals who use state-of-the-art equipment to plant and cultivate three beautiful varieties of grass for residential and commercial customers along with soybeans and timber.
Walter recalled, “In high school my father gave me my own tobacco acreage to work and sell to help me get started. I graduated from Lynchburg College in 1965 with a BS in Physical Education with a minor in Biology and taught school for one year. Fairly quickly I realized I was much more suited to work the land. So I moved back to help my dad raise and manage 150 brood cows, 150 acres of tobacco, and 100 acres of grain. I never looked back.”
While attending Lynchburg College, Walter met his future wife, Lou Ann. She said, “I was born in Rhode Island, a Navy brat, who grew up in the Norfolk/ Virginia Beach area. I earned my BA degree in 1968 in Elementary Education. Walter and I were married in 1966.”
He said, “When our children, W.B., Leanne, and Allen, came along, I gave to each one some tobacco acreage to raise and sell, and I now give our four grandchildren soybean acreage annually. I will have to give our new great-granddaughter her own soybean acreage this year.”
In 2005, the Bass family made a major decision to turn their operation in a new direction. They began planting irrigated fescue, Bermuda, and Zeon zoysia grasses for sod production. Walter recalled, “While our son, Allen, was at Virginia Tech, he researched the cultivation of sod and became the driving force behind the development of our sod enterprise.” They also now grow soybeans, organic soybeans, and timber. Walter added, “We’ve been fortunate that sod acreage and sales of all our crops have increased every year since inception.”
Crop yields are as follows: 205 acres of irrigated sod yielding 4840 sq. yds./acre; 1000 acres of soybeans yielding 50 bushels/acre; organic soybeans yield 30 bushels/acre; and 900 acres of timber of varying age classes yielding 550 acres of mature trees; 200 acres @ 126 tons/acre, and 150 acres @ 40 tons/acre.
Walter noted, “Through the years we’ve had a number of other enterprises. We grew canola and sold it to Virginia Tech to process and use for cooking in campus dining halls. For a while our son, W.B., grew sunflowers to mix with millet and sell for commercial birdseed. We still have 20 acres of sunflowers, not as a cash crop, but more for the community’s enjoyment.”
Lou Ann also raised 20 llamas for approximately ten years and showed them in 4-H and other venues, sold their wool, and employed them as pet therapy in schools, nursing homes, and for special needs groups. During dove season the Bass’s invite members of the community and business contacts to hunt and average about two dozen people per hunt twice per week.
As for marketing, Bass Sod Farm sells its soybeans through direct contract as well as through the Virginia Farm Bureau grain division. Sod is sold directly to landscapers, homeowners, and building contractors. Product sales have had tremendous success just by word-of-mouth referrals. The farm also advertises through radio, television, Facebook, Instagram, and a number of printed publications.
Walter added, “We have a monster truck with advertising graphics on it named ‘Sod Buster’ which my oldest son, W.B., built. We go to various shows, competitions, parades, and charity fundraisers. Lou Ann designed the first brochure for the sod farm as well as the company logo and slogan: ‘We Make the Grass Greener on Your Side of the Fence.’”
On the county level, Walter is the chairman of the board of directors of the Gladys Volunteer Fire Department, a long-time past member of the Gladys Ruritan Club, a member of the VCE Campbell County Extension Leadership Council, and a 4-H Livestock Show and Sale sponsor. He said, “We also donate the use of our tractors for the Gladys tractor pull fire department fundraiser and Back to the Farm Benefit for Levi’s Pullin’ for a Cure, a fundraiser for children stricken with cancer.”
On the state level, he served for many years on the board of the Virginia Tobacco Growers Association and Virginia Agricultural Growers Association. Since 2022, Walter has sponsored the Walter Bass Invitational High School Track Meet that hosts 2000 student athletes. On the national level, since 2011 he has been a competitor and a four-time national title winner in the shot put event of the National Senior and Masters Games.
At the local level, Lou Ann Bass was a founding member in 1997 and first president of Rush Homes Foundation, an enterprise established for the purpose of acquiring lifetime homes for people with developmental and severe physical disabilities, now in its 25th year. She noted, “The Foundation has provided 130 homes serving 331 people and has a wait list of 450.”
As for the challenges faced by the Bass’s over the years, Walter said, “After the tobacco buyout, the family used the money to start a sod growing business. Like all major transitions, it came with difficulties. We had to educate and convince landscapers and contractors to use sod instead of seed and straw for residential and business use—a relatively new concept in this area with a lot of hilly terrain. It was a labor-intensive enterprise, especially when we added an installation service and used our own physical labor to stack and load the sod by hand. Then we acquired an automated sod harvester which helped us keep up with growing demand and reduced loading time.”
Another challenge has historically been labor. “We joined the H2A program to hire and retain dependable workers when we were growing tobacco. We currently employ six H2A workers eight months a year, three green card workers, and four local workers,” Walter said. Sons Allen and W.B. work together to manage all aspects of the sod operation, including growing sod, supervising the workforce, troubleshooting, and overseeing production efficiencies. The farm’s starting to transition the soybean portion of the operation to Allen and W.B. as well. Several of the Bass grandchildren are already adding their energy to various chores and projects on the farm.
Protecting the environment is a critical part of the Bass Sod Farm’s approach to agriculture. Walter said, “We host soybean and tobacco research trials and test plots. For over forty years we’ve participated in on-farm crop meetings and crop breakfasts with Virginia Cooperative Extension.”
The farm operation leaves grass waterways to prevent erosion and participates in the NRCS cover crop program. By-products, such as wood ash and poultry litter, are added as a nutrient supplement to reduce input costs and protect the watershed. The Bass’s have installed over four miles of irrigation line underground, complete with risers, on rented land and two other locations to improve irrigation practices. They use no-till on all soybean acreage, hire contractors who use the newer non-drift nozzle sprayers, and encourage clients to use sod, rather than seed and straw, for less erosion.
Walter said, “Going forward, we’re considering hiring a farm manager. We’d also like to improve our farm technology, such as potentially using a drone for spraying. We recently accomplished our goal of renting 400 acres of river land. With an eye to the future, we’re in the process of setting up a farm transition plan to ensure that our grandchildren can continue the family farming tradition.”
During the winter months, when things slow down a bit on the farm, Walter and Lou Ann have enjoyed bus trips out West and going to various shot put competitions across the country—events at which Walter successfully competes in his age class. They also like to spend time in Florida, enjoying the warmth and beaches of Sanibel, Siesta Key, and Anna Maria. Walter prefers staying at hotels that have gyms where he can continue his regular workouts. Lou Ann can be found “shelling” on the beach and wading in the cool ocean waves. She added, “This past February the entire family went on a trip together to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. It was a special time for all of us.”
From a lifetime of farming Walter has learned how much he is indebted to his parents, who enjoyed a happy marriage and gave him a good start by growing up in an agricultural family, working summers alongside family and friends, and then being able to raise his own children the same way on the same land. He said, “You know, in this business weather and so many other factors can throw kinks into the works. But you just have to have faith in God and keep going.”
Lou Ann reflected, “I’ve learned to be patiently patient as a farmer’s wife and a mother to farmers. I’ve also learned, when your husband’s busy in the fields, you have to be independent and flexible.” She added with a laugh, “It’s interesting that my great grandparents were homesteaders in Oklahoma who lived in a sod house. Coming full circle, I ended up being married to a sod farmer.”
Walter Bass, Jr. was nominated Virginia Farmer of the Year by Todd Scott, Senior Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Campbell County. Todd said, “After the tobacco buyout, they took a leap of faith and built an impressive sod farm business that’s thriving through their hard work.
The Bass family is a wonderful farm family with an entrepreneurial spirit that’s a delight to observe. They’ve used research and data to make important decisions for their crops. Over the years they’ve also earned the respect and high regard of their community by consistently contributing to its welfare in so many ways.”
Harper Family Holdings, the Alabama Farmers Federation, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Florida Farm Bureau, Georgia Farm Bureau, North Carolina Farm Bureau, Tennessee Farm Bureau, and Virginia Farm Bureau have joined together to generously sponsor the 2024 program.
State winners of the Sunbelt Expo award will receive a $2,500 cash award and an expense-paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo from the sponsors. A vest from the sponsors will be given to each state winner and nominator. The Moultrie Colquitt Co. Chamber of Commerce will give each state winner a local keepsake.
The state winners are now eligible for the $15,000 cash prize awarded to the overall winner by the sponsors. Massey Ferguson North America will provide each state winner with a gift package and the overall winner with the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year or 250 hours (whichever comes first). A jacket from the sponsors will be given to the overall winner. Hays LTI will award the overall winner with a HAYS Smoker/Grill. In addition, the overall winner will receive a Henry Repeating Arms American Farmer Tribute Edition rifle from Reinke Irrigation.
The Sunbelt Expo is coordinating the Southeastern Farmer of the Year awards for the 34rd consecutive year. $1,324,000 in cash awards and other honors have been awarded to two hundred ninety six southeastern farmers since the award was initiated in 1990.