European Football Championship 2021 to be held on the world’s latest grass technologies!

Hendriks Graszoden, the seed company based in Heythuysen (NL), has been supplying turf to major stadiums in Europe for many years. During the European Football Championship 2021, games will also be played on turf supplied by Hendriks. Many of the turf products supplied by Hendriks are based on Resilient Blue®, the world's latest grass technology. Gerdien Vloet, of Hendriks: “The past couple of summers made it clear to us that we’re going to have to deal with more and more extreme weather in the future. This is even more true if hybrid structures have to be supplied with a very sandy composition and no capacity to buffer water and nutrients. This requires different solutions, so that we’re in a position to supply resilient turf at all times.” Hendriks decided to use Resilient Blue® grass technology, because it’s resistant enough to take the punches of extreme heat and drought. It means turf with high resistance to wear and disease can be supplied at all times. Vloet: “Thanks to the certainty offered by Resilient Blue®, we are able to supply perfect turf with high wear tolerance and a beautiful deep green colour.”

In Southern Europe the circumstances are completely different and the field managers have to deal with a Mediterranean climate. That means extremely hot and dry summers. Here the so-called cool-season grasses, which are used in the rest of Europe, do not survive the summer. Stadiums in Southern Europe therefore opt for the latest generation of bermuda grass Monaco: a top-quality warm-season grass with extreme wear tolerance. Monaco Bermuda grass is rapidly conquering the Southern European market, and lots of greenkeepers and groundsmen are discovering the advantages of this exclusive Barenbrug grass. Moreover, the Yellow Jacket Water Manager treatment that Monaco grass seeds receive as standard also guarantees the grass can establish itself easily in these hot conditions.

Unsurprisingly, RPR® grass technology will again be used extensively in the stadiums and training grounds during European Championships 2021. For example, the world's most resistant grass was specifically selected for Arena Națională in Bucharest in Romania. RPR® isn’t just a highly resistant turf that can withstand a lot of wear and repairs itself in the event of damage; in Romania's and Hungarian Eastern European climate, disastrous diseases like Grey Leaf Spot can destroy a pitch in a single day. Razvan George Bulugea from Holland Farming, who is closely involved in the maintenance of the turf in Romania: “Resistant RPR® with GLS tolerance was specifically chosen to avoid any unpleasant surprises during the tournament. This turf is really fantastic!”

This is by no means the first time Barenbrug grass technologies have been used during a major tournament. In 2010, during the World Cup in South Africa, the Barenbrug SOS® grass technology was used last-minute to restore the pitches. During the European Championship 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, the European Championship 2016 in France and the World Cup 2018 in Russia, RPR® grass technology provided pitches as strong as iron.

For sure it will not be the last time that Barenbrug's innovative grass technologies offer tailor-made solutions. The eleven different countries and associated climatic challenges require different solutions. Barenbrug delivers it in the past, present and future.