Love Seattle Stadium's World Cup turf? Meet its WA supplier

A Washington farm has caught the world's attention after supplying Seattle Stadium with its turf for the FIFA Men's World Cup.

Desert Green Turf in Moses Lake, Grant County, was the star of a recent commercial that aired last week during the inaugural World Cup match between Mexico and South Africa. In the broadcast, a silo towered over green fields before panning to a truck driving away with rolls of sod.

The business supplied Lumen Field, rebranded as Seattle Stadium during the tournament, with its turf, a FIFA spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. FIFA used stadiums' suppliers and concessionaires, and Lumen Field has worked with Desert Green Turf in the past.

The company also provided turf to Los Angeles Stadium, temporarily rebranded from SoFi Stadium, per the spokesperson.

While Lumen Field typically features artificial turf, it's been covered by other materials like sod for months to accommodate the soccer games. Belgium and Egypt played the first Seattle-based match Monday, with the next one scheduled for Friday between the U.S. and Australia.

When it comes to growing grass, Desert Green Turf owner Nathan Cox called Moses Lake one of the best places in the world."

Kentucky bluegrass is commonly used in sports fields. With its climate and soils, Eastern Washington is the clear champion of Kentucky bluegrass production, compared with the western half of the state, per Washington State University.

"I wouldn't want to grow it in any other area," Cox said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Desert Green Turf is a favorite for sports turf, working on fields at T-Mobile Park, the University of Washington, Washington State University and Seattle University.

The company declined to discuss details of the World Cup specifically.

The roots of Desert Green Turf

Cox has run Desert Green Turf for around two decades, and business has grown over the past few years, he said.

While Desert Green Turf grows sod, another arm owned by Cox, Northwest Turf Solutions, handles the construction side, including grading, installation, sprinklers and drainage systems. The two companies employ about 70 workers in total.

Just like his grass, Cox is Washington-grown. He hails from Warden, Grant County, and is the son of a potato farmer.

However, his agricultural endeavors didn't originally begin with sod. Cox uses the terms sod, turf and grass interchangeably.

When he and his brother, Kurtis, first decided to try their hands at the family trade, they started with alfalfa. "We were looking for something that wasn't just corn and wheat," Cox said.

Then, while hunting with folks in the sports turf industry, they suggested the idea of growing grass.

Cox's business focused first on golf courses before eventually expanding to stadiums.

Common grasses used in sports fields include Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue because of their ability to withstand wear and tear, recover from field use and resist pests, according to Cornell University.

Desert Green Turf grows bluegrass and blue-ryegrass blends from seed to harvest. As it turns out, grass is a very different beast from alfalfa, Cox said.

"You're constantly harvesting," he said, though he referred to grass as a "forgiving" crop.

The growing process

Last week's World Cup commercial showed the process of rolling up and delivering sod to sports venues.

"For certain elite tournaments and different things, we will have what we call plastic-grown," Cox said.

There are two ways to do it.

The first is transferred sod on plastic: Grow and harvest the sod on the farm, then roll it out onto plastic and let it grow together for several months.

The second is seeded sod on plastic: Lay the plastic down, build up a layer of sand and seed it, growing the grass for a minimum of a year, Cox explained.

High-end tournaments favor a particular type referred to as hybrid sod on plastic, he said, with an end product that's around 90% natural grass.

"It plays like natural turf, but it actually has the filament fibers of artificial in there in a carpet system," Cox said.

Some elite tournaments take sod on plastic and lay it down in the stadium before running a large sewing machine that stitches artificial fiber into the grass, Cox said. "It's basically like transplant hair."

The installation process, he said, takes three to six days.

Cox said his company is one of a handful worldwide that specializes in the method preferred by high-end tournaments.

Because it combines artificial and real turf on plastic, "it's probably the most expensive way to grow it," he said, "but it also gives us really good results."

Installation at Seattle Stadium kicked off in the winter.

FIFA wanted "to make sure that the quality of the pitch is the same for all teams and all players in all cities," President Gianni Infantino said in an earlier statement.

'From Moses Lake, WA, to the world'

The commercial caught the attention of proud Washingtonians tuned into the international soccer tournament. One TikTok user posted a clip, with the caption, "From Moses Lake, WA, to the world," in a video that went viral.

The Washington Farm Bureau applauded Desert Green Turf for its accomplishments.

"We're proud to see Washington agriculture represented on the global stage through local producers like Desert Green Turf," director of marketing and communications Bailey Moon said in a statement Wednesday. "Their work reflects the innovation, grit, and quality that Washington farmers are known for."

She added that the recognition comes at a pivotal moment when "Washington is currently experiencing the fastest rate of farm loss in the nation, with an average of two farms disappearing every day."

Moon believes it's a crucial time to support the state's agriculture producers.

"Agriculture and athletics also go hand in hand," she said. "Every performance starts with food, and Washington farmers are part of that story from the ground up, down to the very blades of grass they'll compete on.

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