Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 6850 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM BRAZILIAN PITCHES TOP PERFORMERS AT 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES CORPORATE SPOTLIGHT: DLF EUROPEAN SEED COMPANY TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN RIO. eed from DLF returned to the sports surfaces of Brazil for the second time in two years. Following the success of the seed used at the 2014 World Cup, DLF was chosen to help Brazilian groundsmen prepare their football stadiums for the world’s largest celebration of sport and athletics. Grass seed technology, including the newest plant breeding advances, plays an important role in preparing a top-performing pitch like the Maracanã. The pitch preparations included the venues hosting the women and men’s football and rugby-seven tournament. August is Brazil’s cool season, so turf preparations must overcome the grass’s natural dormancy. The solution was to adopt the same grass technology used in 2014; overseeding with a special turf mixture developed through DLF plant-breeding research. The mixture, which has proven to be optimal for the Brazilian climate and geography, provides a perfect and uniform playing surface for all matches of the tournament. It includes the top-performing perennial ryegrass varieties and exclusive 4turf® technology. “We are proud that our grass seed technology again plays an important role in major sports events like the Olympics. Based on the excellent pitch performance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, we were confident that the pitch quality could fulfill the high expectations,” says Søren Halbye, CCO for DLF Group. EXPERIENCE FROM WORLD CUP 2014 WAS A GREAT BENEFIT In the months leading up to the top event, DLF worked closely with grass specialists, advisors and professional contractors responsible for the pitches in Brazil, who are experienced in optimizing the local sports pitches. The experiences from the precious World Cup tournament were a great benefit. Alexandre Vieira dos Santos, part owner of Greenleaf Gramados, the company installing most of the pitches hosting the Olympics’, says the company’s main challenge is to get all pitches looking good and into perfect shape during our winter season. Brazil is a huge continent and the logistical challenges in getting products from the North to the South are immense. “Back in 2013 at the Confederation Cup, prior to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, we identified the high-performing ryegrass mixture from DLF to have the best overseeding performance. The key features we consider are the best adaptability to different climate zones and a good shadow tolerance, which is critical given the architecture of the stadiums. Our experience with the pitch preparation and outstanding results at the 2014 World Cup has given us a key advantage for preparing the pitches for the 2016 Olympic Games,” he says. “The pitches will be under intensive pressure, some of them hosting 10 games during 10 to 14 days, so we cannot compromise on grass quality. We have been working with the sports perennial grass seed mixture from DLF for several years now, and we know we can rely on its performance and high wear- tolerance during the competition. Overseeding has become a regular practice between April and August, the autumn and winter period in Brazil, in the South and Southeast regions in Brazil. Our professional groundsmen teams were very satisfied about the pitch preparations for the Olympic Games, and we developed excellent grass pitches for the athletes for the 2016 Olympic Games.” SUPER ROLLS MADE MARACANÃ READY FOR FOOTBALL FINALS The Maracanã, an iconic football stadium, hosted the spectacular opening ceremony, and a few days later, it was assigned to host final matches of the Rio 2016 football competition. Even before memories of the opening ceremony had faded, preparation was underway to bring the Maracanã back to its natural state. The existing pitch was removed ahead of the opening ceremony and between Aug. 8-12, 640 12-metre rolls of climate-controlled turf were transported to the stadium. Pitch teams from GreenLeaf worked at night to ensure the temperature was optimal for the installation. The super rolls based on Sod Bermuda grass were overseeded with a top-performing DLF turf ryegrass mixture. Overseeding makes the pitch surface smoother, denser and secures a uniform playing surface. The ryegrass mixture was composed of a mixture of turf diploid perennial ryegrass and 4turf ryegrass, and the performance fulfilled high expectations. Read more on the official Rio2016 site about the Maracanã project by visiting http:// ow.ly/SlUR3046KEZ. TURF TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES WITH 4TURF� The global plant-breedi ng network of DLF is the driving force behind recent scientific advances within turf grass. The 4turf® technology is at the heart of those performance improvements. 4turf® is a tetraploid perennial ryegrass characterized by rapid establishment, high tolerance to disease, temperature and drought stress, a deeper root system, and a deep green colour. 4turf® gives groundsmen the characteristics they look for in a world-class sports pitch. 4turf also played a significant role in overseeding mixtures for most of the EURO 2016 venues in France. Sports turf managers can benefit from the same 4Turf Tetraploid ryegrass technology used in Brazil with new DLF sportsturf mixtures. These mixtures are ideal for the autumn renovation of winter playing surfaces. Rio 2016 Football facts: • 7 Stadiums hosted 58 women’s and men’s matches at the Olympic Football tournament from Aug. 3-20 • 16 national men’s football teams and 12 women’s football teams competed for the gold medals • Brazil won the men’s gold medals, and women’s football gold went to Germany. Both matches were hosted by the iconic Estadio do Maracanã in Rio DLF is the global market leader in the grass seed industry with more than 800 employees in 13 countries. The company has a worldwide breeding network as well as production marketing and sales of clover and grass seed to more than 80 countries worldwide. Owned by 3.500 Danish farmers, the DLF group has a revenue of 450 million euros. 50 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM S