Fish Head Farms and Advanced Turf Solutions Partner to Expand FISH SH!T in U.S. Turf Markets
Fish Head Farms, Inc., manufacturer of FISH SH!T® Organic Soil Conditioner, has announced an exclusive sales, marketing and distribution partnership with Advanced Turf Solutions (ATS), an employee-owned green industry company headquartered in Indiana. Under the agreement, ATS will become the exclusive partner for FISH SH!T® across the golf course, lawn and landscape, and sports field markets throughout the United States and its territories.
The partnership is designed to significantly expand the availability of FISH SH!T® to professional turf managers and other green industry customers. Through ATS’s nationwide field organization and established wholesale distribution network, the product will reach golf course superintendents, lawn care professionals, sports turf managers, landscape operators, and specialty-surface managers across the country.
Exclusive Partnership Covers Three Major Turf Divisions
The agreement encompasses all three of Advanced Turf Solutions’ core divisions: golf courses, lawn and landscape, and sports fields. As part of the arrangement, ATS field representatives across these divisions will introduce, promote, and support FISH SH!T® among customers throughout their territories.
ATS will also sell the product through its existing wholesale distribution network, helping expand access beyond its direct sales organization. The approach creates a unified distribution channel for customers looking for biological soil-management solutions designed specifically for professional turf applications.
For Fish Head Farms, the agreement represents an opportunity to broaden the reach of its microbial soil conditioner in some of the most demanding segments of the green industry. For ATS, the partnership adds a differentiated biological product to its portfolio for customers focused on soil health, root development, nutrient utilization, and turf performance.
FISH SH!T® Focuses on Soil Biology
FISH SH!T® is a living microbial soil conditioner manufactured by Fish Head Farms using composted tilapia manure and a proprietary production process. Unlike conventional fertilizers, the product is not formulated as a source of available nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium and contains no available N-P-K.
Instead, the product is designed around soil biology. According to Fish Head Farms, each bottle contains a living ecosystem comprising more than 4,000 distinct beneficial microbes. These microorganisms are intended to support a range of biological and agronomic processes in the soil.
The company says FISH SH!T® can help mobilize and solubilize nutrients, release phosphorus that has become tied up in the soil, improve water-holding capacity, increase aerobic activity, and encourage longer and denser root systems.
These characteristics position the product as a soil-conditioning tool rather than a conventional fertilizer replacement. By supporting biological activity around plant roots, the company aims to help turf managers improve the underlying health of the root zone while supporting the performance and resilience of turfgrass.
FISH SH!T® is listed by OMRI, CDFA, and CFIA and is also designated as USDA BioPreferred. Fish Head Farms also points to results from a national golf course trial conducted by an independent third party. The company says the trial recorded more than a 50% increase in mycorrhizal activity, along with meaningful improvements in phosphorus availability and nutrient uptake by plant tissue.
Growing Demand Across Professional Turf Markets
The partnership comes as professional turf managers across the United States continue to focus on maintaining high-quality playing surfaces while managing water, fertilizer, and other input requirements.
The golf industry represents one of the largest potential markets for biological soil-management products. The U.S. golf sector generates more than $35 billion in course and club revenue and has an overall economic footprint exceeding $100 billion. The country has approximately 16,000 golf courses located at nearly 14,000 facilities, with on-course participation involving roughly 29 million players.
Maintaining golf course turf requires careful management of soil structure, roots, moisture, nutrients, and biological activity. Greens, tees, fairways, and other playing surfaces can experience significant pressure from traffic, weather, irrigation, mowing, and environmental conditions. As a result, products that support root-zone health can play an important role in turf-management programs.
The broader professional turf and ornamental market also represents a multibillion-dollar opportunity. Turf and ornamental protection products in the United States are estimated at approximately $2.2 billion to $2.9 billion, covering applications across golf, commercial landscaping, turf management, and ornamental plant production.
Sports fields add another substantial market opportunity. Football, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, rugby, polo, and other athletic venues depend on turf surfaces capable of withstanding repeated traffic and recovering from physical stress. For sports turf managers, root-zone performance, surface quality, drainage, water management, and recovery can directly affect field usability and maintenance requirements.
Fish Head Farms Highlights Biological Approach
David Benharris, Chief Executive Officer of Fish Head Farms, said the company developed FISH SH!T® around the concept of a living microbial ecosystem rather than an isolated laboratory strain.
According to Benharris, professional golf and turf applications provide an environment where differences in root development, nutrient utilization, and surface recovery can become particularly visible. He added that ATS’s existing presence across golf courses, landscapes, and sports fields makes the company a natural distribution partner for expanding access to the product.
The exclusive agreement means ATS representatives can offer FISH SH!T® through the company’s established customer relationships while also making it available through its wholesale network.
ATS Sees Differentiation in Soil Biology
Scott Brame, Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Turf Solutions, said the company views product differentiation as an important consideration when adding solutions to its portfolio.
Brame emphasized that FISH SH!T® differs from conventional fertilizer products and single-strain biological inoculants because of its focus on a diverse microbial ecosystem. He pointed to root development, nutrient availability, water-use efficiency, and plant resilience as areas of interest for ATS customers across its three professional turf divisions.
With exclusive rights covering the United States and its territories, ATS will be able to integrate FISH SH!T® into its sales and marketing activities across its golf course, lawn and landscape, and sports field businesses.
How the Distribution Agreement Works
The new partnership establishes several key elements for the commercial rollout of FISH SH!T®.
First, ATS will hold exclusive sales, marketing, and distribution rights for the product within the golf course, lawn and landscape, and sports field markets throughout the United States and its territories.
Second, ATS field representatives serving these three divisions will promote and support FISH SH!T® directly in the field. This gives customers access to product information and application support through representatives already working with professional turf operations.
Third, ATS will distribute FISH SH!T® through its existing wholesale network nationwide. This structure is intended to expand the product’s availability beyond ATS’s direct locations and provide additional purchasing options for customers and distributors.
Expanding Access to Biological Turf Solutions
The agreement between Fish Head Farms and Advanced Turf Solutions reflects the growing role of biological products in professional turf management. As golf courses, sports facilities, landscapers, and other turf operators evaluate ways to manage soil health and plant performance, microbial-based products are becoming another tool within broader agronomic programs.
FISH SH!T® will now have access to ATS’s established sales organization and wholesale distribution infrastructure across the country. The companies expect the partnership to provide professional turf customers with greater access to the product while supporting its adoption across golf, landscape, and sports field applications.
By combining Fish Head Farms’ microbial soil-conditioning technology with Advanced Turf Solutions’ nationwide industry presence, the two companies aim to expand the use of biological soil-management solutions across professional turf markets in the United States and its territories.
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