FIFA World Cup games will be played in Toronto in two weeks, and when the players hit the pitch, they’ll be setting foot on grass grown at a farm in Ontario’s Brant County. Greenhorizons Sod Farms in Burford Ont., has been providing BMO Field with natural turf for over 15 years. The team said they were thrilled to get the call for the World Cup roughly three years ago. “We are so excited to be part of this world-renowned event,” explained Greenhorizons’ president, Steve Schiedel. The company has five farms across southern Ontario, with sod that caters to the needs of residential developments, schoolyards, and parks. Their Burford location is where they grow their specialty grass. “A high-performance field is firm, but it’s not compacted. It drains, but still holds water,” Schiedel explained. Their natural turf was laid at BMO Field, which will be called “Toronto Stadium” for the duration of the World Cup, late last year and is being monitored by a maintenance team daily. “They had a couple games on it just to set it in, and now it’s been resting for about four weeks,” said Schiedel. “Nobody is on it, nobody’s allowed to touch it. They are meticulously making sure every grass blade is absolutely perfect.” With the Toronto field dimensions being around 90,000ft², the sod was transported to the stadium in large rolls, which isn’t typical. “Each roll weighs about 2,000 lbs. We normally get 15,000ft² on a truckload of this particular product. Because it is so unique and heavy, we only get about 6,000ft² on a truckload, so about a third of the amount,” Schiedel said. “It took about 18 tactor trailer truckloads to get it there.” Schidel and his team also provided the grass for the practice fields the teams will be using during their time in Toronto. “It was a very large project for us, and just being involved in it has more intrinsic value than any kind of dollar put on it.” Replacement grass ready The Burford farm is currently growing replacement sod in case of an emergency throughout the tournament. “We mow this [grass] probably almost every day. We fertilize a good amount and lots of irrigation,” said Ryan Edgar, the farm manager of the specialty location. “This is some of the best grass I’ve ever grown.” Different from the artificial turf often seen at soccer fields, the Burford grass is all natural. “It gives but yet it has traction. Artificial turf has traction but doesn’t give,” Schiedel said. “That’s why soccer players around the world demand to play on natural grass. For their own body, they own playability, for the performance of the sport, the ball play, the safety of the players.” Schiedel and his team will be on site in Toronto once the tournament begins, but they’ll be stationed in the parking lot to support the turf management team if needed. “We got the link to the lottery like everyone else did, unfortunately. They made it very fair,” joked Schiedel when asked if he got tickets to any games.
