 BY LIBBY PALANZA NOVEMBER 5, 2025 South Portland residents voted Tuesday to approve a natural grass field for their high school’s athletic complex by a decisive margin of 54 percent in favor to 46 percent opposed. In parallel, a resounding 73 percent opposed the alternative of an artificial turf field which only 23 percent supported. Unlike last year’s substantially more costly proposal, voters had the choice between a $4.6 million natural grass field and a $5.5 million synthetic turf field. Both projects included a new track, new lighting and permanent bathrooms. Voters were able to cast their ballots in support of one, both, or neither of these options. Read the full article published in the Maine Wire  Chapel Hill's Kenan Stadium will return to a natural grass field in 2025. By Mike Kadlick The North Carolina Tar Heels are making a significant change to their playing surface ahead of the 2025 season. In consultation with new head coach Bill Belichick, Chapel Hill's Kenan Stadium will return to a natural grass field in 2025, the UNC athletic department announced in a press release on Monday. They had been playing on a synthetic turf surface since 2020. "With our current turf reaching the end of its lifespan, the timing made sense to return Kenan Stadium to its natural grass roots," Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham said in a statement. "Our staff takes great pride in maintaining a top-tier field that reflects the excellence of UNC Football, and we look forward to cheering on the team as it competes on a world-class natural grass surface next season."  by Noël Fletcher Dec 22, 2024 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is deciding whether to create a national program to strengthen demand for the $2.2 billion natural grass industry since American sod is facing an eroding market from plastic turf and consumer misconceptions. ..... The Fake Grass Threat
Although natural grass is being replaced in homes and public areas by mulch, brick, concrete pavers and some rubberized playgrounds, its main economic threat is from fake grass. “Plastic, artificial turf is the primary competitor and most common alternative to natural grass for athletic fields on school grounds, public parks, and collegiate or professional sports venues,” the government says. It cited a 2020 Synthetic Turf Council Market Report for North America listing a 15% growth rate since 2017 in the current $2.7 billion artificial turf industry, with increasing demand coming from athletic field and landscaping applications. Numerous grass growers and organizations that rely on natural sod backed the federal government’s overture (through the USDA’s proposed rule in 2023) to step in and help create the industry-funded promotion, research, and information program for natural grass sod products. A request for public comments resulted in 173 comments submitted prior to a December 2023 deadline. Read the article in Forbes.  Photo credit: Whole Hog Sports EXAMPLE: Arkansas Razorbacks The Razorbacks switched back to grass in 2019 after 10 years playing on synthetic. Two things to note -
July 21, 2019 by Matt Jones - Whole Hog Sports FAYETTEVILLE — Natural grass will return to the field at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium within a few weeks. The University of Arkansas football team will play home games on a natural surface this fall for the first time since 2008 — the team’s first season under then-head coach Bobby Petrino, who had artificial turf installed in 2009 at a cost of $1.1 million. *Petrino said the synthetic surface was needed to withstand the wear and tear of his practices. Petrino preferred to have most of his practices inside the stadium, and the grass field showed some signs of overuse by the end of 2008. Ten years after Petrino lobbied for a new field in his first season, another new Arkansas head coach, Chad Morris, said he preferred natural grass, citing his experience coaching Texas high school teams. The change could not be made in time for Morris’ inaugural season because construction to the stadium’s north side wasn’t completed until August. With a crane sitting inside the stadium, the turf was peeled back roughly 40 yards most of last year, then laid back down shortly before the 2018 season opener against Eastern Illinois. Arkansas began tearing out the turf field in April and expects to have real grass in the stadium by early August. The estimated cost to switch the field back to grass is $963,000. Read the full article You only have to go back to grass once. This costs not much more than a synthetic field replacement and less than a new synthetic field, which unlike grass needs repeated costly removal, disposal and replacement every 8-10 years on average. Summary and notes by Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc. |
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