There’s something about the smell of freshly mowed grass that makes you want to get out on the turf and play. Couple this with some perfectly mowed stripes and neatly painted lines and you have a picture-perfect playing field. While athletes almost always prefer natural grass fields, artificial turf is a widely used playing surface due to the perception that it is easier to maintain.
In the short term, artificial turf fields can seem attractive because they don’t need to be mowed, and venues can host events on the fields without concern for traffic and soil compaction. However, there’s been a recent push to shift artificial surfaces back to natural grass as big-name players sustain season-ending injuries and organizations like FIFA prioritize playing surface conditions when selecting hosts for tournaments.
Many athletes including NFL players and soccer players, dread playing on artificial turf. They argue that they feel a difference in their joints after they play. Since artificial turf has less give than natural playing surfaces, injuries to lower extremities are more common. Players also dislike that sliding falls on artificial turf can often result in abrasion injuries.
Regardless of the sport, when injuries take key players out of the game, it rocks the league by putting season averages, scoring records, and championship titles at risk. Similarly, player performance can suffer too. Running and cutting ability can change and for sports like soccer, the ball bounces and moves across the field surfaces differently.
MetLife Stadium had an artificial field that became infamous for season-ending player injuries, and they announced they will install a natural grass field in light of being named host of the 2026 World Cup. Unless a special provision is made, FIFA requires games to be played on natural surfaces.
Natural turfgrass has many environmental benefits, and turfgrass science is improving our ability to manage fields sustainably. The inputs required to maintain a natural field – namely irrigation, fertilizer, and mowing – are much more sustainable when you consider that artificial fields can end up in a landfill once they are worn out. Artificial turf only lasts 8-10 years before it needs to be replaced. At this point, it is possible for the infill to be reused if desired, but the turf fibers are usually too worn to repurpose.
Natural grass provides a cooling effect on the field. As plants take up water, they release that water through small pores in their leaves called stomata. This process, called transpiration, is much like the cooling effect that humans experience when they sweat. The cooling effect moderates temperatures significantly when compared to artificial turf fields. The rubber infill of artificial turf fields can make for a hot surface, and the lack of transpirational cooling means that temperatures can sometimes reach temperatures as high as 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
Maintaining natural turfgrass centers around a few key input requirements – water, nutrients, mowing, and pest management. If turf managers can optimize those four areas, they can maintain high quality turf surfaces that are sustainable to manage. The best defense against pests is a healthy stand of grass, so ensuring that the turf has enough water and nutrients and is mowed at the correct height goes a long way in keeping pests at bay.
In the push to convert artificial turf surfaces back to natural turf, turf managers are turning to additional tools to help improve input efficiency and manage the field more sustainably. Soil wetting agent and adjuvant technology can make or break a water or pest management program, and more turf managers are using these tools to get better results and efficiency from their inputs.
A well-watered field provides the cooling effect that keeps playing conditions safe and comfortable even when the air temperature is hot. The challenge is that across a given field, there will be some areas that tend to be more wet, and some that tend to be drier. Uneven soil moisture directly translates to uneven playing conditions. If fields are hard and dry, ball roll and bounce may be inconsistent and erratic. If fields are too wet, ball roll and bounce may be decreased.
Soil wetting agents help to distribute water evenly in the soil and keep that moisture where it is available for the grass to use. The more consistent soil moisture is, the more consistent turfgrass health and playing conditions can be across a field.
This demonstration shows how the liquid version of Lateral, an Exacto wetting agent penetrates a dry turf surface. Lateral is also available in granular form.
This animation shows the difference between water, moisture-holding polymers, wetting agents, and AquiMax soil moisture management technology when looking across a soil profile.
While proper mowing, irrigation, and fertilization can help keep weeds at bay, herbicides are often needed to control weeds and ensure consistent, safe playing conditions. Effective spray applications are imperative to achieving proper weed control. Adding adjuvants to the tank mix optimizes the mix to perfect droplet size, pH level, and functionality to provide the optimum conditions for the active ingredient to perform. Deposition aids and surfactants are two different adjuvant classes that can greatly improve effectiveness of herbicide applications.
Just getting the active ingredient to the target isn’t enough – the spray can easily be washed away or evaporated. Deposition aids help active ingredients penetrate the target and stay in place until they are needed.
This demonstration of INLAY shows how this deposition aid can keep herbicide in the soil even after multiple rain events.
Spray droplets can bead-up, run off, or bounce off of targeted turf leaves. Surfactants prevent spray droplets from beading up by helping them to spread across the target surface on contact.
This demonstration compares the spreadability of two different types of surfactants to water.
As the largest part of any spray tank mix, water can significantly impact application quality. Hard water, the pH of the water, or contaminated water can all affect the efficacy of a spray tank mix. Water conditioners mitigate these issues by minimizing antagonistic interactions between complex water ions and active pesticide ingredients.
This demonstration of COMPLETION™ shows how a water conditioner acts in a tank mix.
That perfect natural turf field is within reach. Planning effective spray applications and soil moisture management strategies make maintaining natural turfgrass a breeze. With player safety at the forefront, the push for natural turfgrass charges ahead. The perceived short-term convenience and durability artificial turf offers doesn’t hold up in the long run when compared to the aesthetics, environmental benefits, and enhanced player performance and safety of natural grass. When it comes down to it, natural turfgrass is simply the better choice.
Surfactants are widely used across the world – in fact, you probably use surfactants every day in soaps, detergents, toothpaste, cosmetics, and countless other applications. Surfactants are just as important in agriculture and turf and understanding how and when to use the right surfactant can make or break a successful application.
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