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New trials will shed light on turfgrass traffic tolerance
30 Jun, 2009 By: Ron Hall Athletic Turf NewsThe turfgrass industry is ramping up research on the amount of traffic various species and cultivars can tolerate and still provide acceptable playing conditions on sports fields.
We saw one traffic trial on the Scotts Professional Turf/Pure-Seed Testing research farm in Rolesville, NC, during its annual Field Day in June. This investigation, focusing on varieties of seeded Bermudagrass, is one of several traffic trials looking at various species that have been conducted or are underway across the nation.
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In the case of the seeded Bermudas, it's much too early to make recommendations about which varieties will hold up to the wear inflicted by a machine called the "slapper." The aim of the machine, which was developed by Rutgers University, is to simulate the traffic a busy sports field would receive.
The Rolesville, NC, trial began on May 27 when an employee at the farm made eight passes with the slapper over the back half of the 7-ft. X 11-ft. Bermudagrass plots. Eight additional passes were made June 11. And yes, there were noticeable differences in wear among the different varieties, even at this early stage of the trials.
As a side note, a portion of each of the oversized plots is also being treated with Primo MAXX to see what affects that PGR has on the different varieties of seeded Bermudas.
“We think there will be a lot of differences among the varieties,” said turfgrass breeder Dr. Melody Fraser, who runs the Rolesville, NC, research farm. One of the keys to establishing seeded Bermudagrass, whether it's used for sports or otherwise, she added is to “get it started as early in the season as possible,” she added.
Turfgrass grows by the inch and is killed by the foot is a phrase that explains the effects of athletic field overuse.
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That's a favorite saying of sports field maintenance expert Floyd Perry of Orlando, FL, meaning of course that too much activity or traffic on a sports field will destroy its grass playing surface.
Traffic is the biggest challenge in the maintenance of natural grass fields. This is especially true in light of the explosion in community youth sports, particularly soccer. In most communities there are more players and teams than fields on which to play.
But the traffic problem isn't confined to our parks & rec programs or our local K-12 schools. Field managers at colleges and universities across the United States also battle the ravages caused by overuse of their intramural fields. And if you watch NFL football on television you've noticed the condition of the turfgrass in some of our nation's northern stadiums by the end of the season. The NFL's 300-lb. lineman and their cleats do a number on the turfgrass, especially after it goes into winter dormancy and has no chance to repair itself.
Excess traffic, probably more so than the cost of maintenance, is the primary reason for the proliferation of synthetic turf, which can absorb significantly more wear and tear than turfgrass and still provide a safe, acceptable surface for sports.
That said, properly maintained turfgrass, if not pounded to death by too many events, offers exceptional playing conditions. That's why research continues on the amount of traffic (traffic tolerance) that turfgrass can withstand under different management regimens and still provide acceptable sports turf.
This past spring the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) announced a joint project with the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) to evaluate the traffic tolerance of cool-season grasses used on athletic fields under simulated football-type conditions. A third partner in the endeavor is STMA's Safer Athletic Fields Environments Foundation (SAFE). NTEP will serve as the coordinating agent for the 3-year trial.
The objective of trial will be to determine the best cultivars, blends, mixtures and species for football traffic on athletic fields.
The trial will begin this fall. Traffic will be imposed to simulate fall football traffic, over an 8-10 week period in fall 2010, 2011 and 2012 at six to eight locations across the United States.
In addition, one-half of each plot will be overseeded in spring 2011 and 2012 to simulate the overseeding process that sports turf managers often utilize. Data will be collected on percent ground cover weekly during traffic, rate of recovery after traffic and turfgrass quality.
These trials should add to the knowledge about traffic tolerance that has been collected in previous trials, such as those conducted at Iowa State University, North Carolina State University and Rutgers University, among others.
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