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World Cup Turf Developed By East Texan

published: July 10th 2010
by: Robert Burns
source: TAMU Ag Communications

OVERTON -- You might call it a world-class save. To rescue soccer fields being used for the World Cup in South Africa, grounds   managers  used a turfgrass bred and developed near Overton in East  Texas.
    Dr. Lloyd Nelson, small-grains breeder with Texas AgriLife Research,  recently learned that his Panterra turfgrass was used as part of a  fast-growing over-seeding blend on several South African soccer  fields used for the World Cup games.
    "It is hard to believe a ryegrass variety bred and developed near  Overton, Texas, has the desired characteristics to be over-seeded on  soccer fields in South Africa," Nelson said. "We selected for  traits  suitable for over-seeding football and baseball fields during the winter in Texas, never dreaming it might be adaptable all over the world."
    AgriLife Research released Panterra in 2003, licensing seed production to Barenbrug USA, Inc., which uses Panterra in its SOS blend.
    "SOS stands for Super Over Seeding," Nelson said. "SOS grass is a blend of Panterra and a perennial ryegrass cultivar."
    Nelson said Panterra has all the advantages of traditional winter ryegrass turfgrasses with none of the disadvantages, which makes it  "a great candidate for sports fields as well as for overseeding homelawns so they'll be green throughout the winter."
    "They like Panterra because of its fast establishment, low growing, fine leaf texture and beautiful medium green color, and early spring transition," he said.
    In parts of Texas and the southern U.S., it's possible to over-seed  warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda grass and St. Augustine, with winter ryegrass. But many perennial winter ryegrasses are slow to  die out during the spring and may choke out the summer lawn as it struggles to come out of dormancy.
    Other ryegrasses, such as TAM 90 or Gulf, were largely developed for  winter pastures, and are also fast-growing, requiring frequent mowing  and should not be over-seeded on lawns, Nelson said.
    Nelson, who also developed TAM 90, bred Panterra specifically to  avoid these problems. Panterra is a "dwarf" annual ryegrass, which means it doesn't grow very tall. As a dwarf, it requires fewer  mowings during winter and spring, he said.
    "Better yet, it dies off in mid-to late-May throughout most of  Texas, and it doesn't compete as much with Bermuda grass or St.  Augustine turf."
    Nelson noted that Panterra also has been used on the university  soccer field and Kyle Field football stadium at Texas A&M University  in College Station in past years.
    "Panterra's early maturity should allow an easy transition from the winter grass to the warm season grass and put an end to brown or  bald spots in home lawns and soccer fields," Nelson said.
    Those wishing to find a local distribution company for Panterra seed  may visit the Barenbrug website at http://www.barusa.com,  Nelson  said.