SGT stands for “Sustainable Grass Technology” – Barenbrug’s research driven concept designed to deliver outstanding turf performance in high stress conditions with reduced fertiliser, chemical and water inputs.

The SGT products are curated from specially chosen cultivars. In trials at Landlab in Italy, during the harsh summer of 2018, Hardtop hard fescue and Barjessica strong creeping red fescue performed particularly well in periods of heat and drought, in comparison with other cultivars (Fig. 1 & Fig. 2). 

Figure 1 - Drone Image From Landlab. Highlighted plots are the hard fescue. The quality and endurance of hard fescue stood alone during the most intense heat.

Figure 2 - Graph to show fluctuations in fescue performance (NTEP Turf Quality (TQ) assessments) over 9-month period during 2018 in Landlab, Italy. Note the superior scores of Hardtop hard fescue and Barjessica strong creeping red fescue.

In SGT Rye Fairway, Barprium offers proven capacity for nitrogen-use efficiency, requiring up to 50% less nitrogen. In a recent 18 month STRI trial (shown in Fig. 3.) results demonstrate nitrogen efficiency from a number of cultivars against lived ground cover. Barprium delivers the highest mean turf cover to all other cultivars. Put simply, it requires far less N to deliver equivalent turf performance.

Figure 3 - STRI N-Efficiency Trial Data. Barprium delivers equivalent mean turf cover to all other cultivars at 50% less nitrogen input.

STRI researchers concluded in their trial report: “The best performing cultivar in this trial was Barprium, with good turf quality and coverage observed at all N levels and N types. Even at very low levels of N, Barprium still showed good quality and coverage. Conversely at high levels of N, Barprium did not promote excessive vertical growth.”

Barprium is highly ranked in the BSPB/STRI Turfgrass Seed 2022 booklet with a mean score of 7.6 on Table L1 and exhibits strong summer colour – another useful characteristic for low-input golf fairways.

Products available in the SGT range include SGT Rye Fairway and SGT Fine Fescue and represent the culmination of many years of research and are targeted at golf course fairway overseeding to combat the effects of climate change and reduce future maintenance inputs.