Results of national nursery surve...( GAINESVILLE FLThe U.S. Green industr...)

GAINESVILLE, FLThe U.S. Green industry, including nursery and greenhouse producers, landscape services firms, and wholesale and retail distributors, has grown dramatically during the past two decades, becoming an increasingly important sector of American agriculture.

In 2002, the Green Industry generated 1.96 million jobs and $147.8 billion in sales. In 2006, sales of U.S. nursery and greenhouse crops reached $16.9 billion. Despite its growing importance, however, the production and management practices followed in this industry have not been well-documented.

To help fill the information void on management characteristics of the nursery industry, the National Nursery Survey was introduced in 1988. Every five years since then, a multi-state research committee on economics and marketing called the Green Industry Research Consortium conducts the survey to provide a state and regional analysis of nursery production practices.

Alan W. Hodges, Charles R. Hall, Bridget K. Behe, and Jennifer H. Dennis published the results of the most recent survey in the October 2008 volume of the American Society of Horticultural Science's journal HortScience.

The researchers recognized that practices and technology use differ across regions due to varying economic and environmental conditions. According to the research team, the results of this survey are of particular interest given the recent emphasis on producing plants in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Eight geographic regions were identified for analysis of pooled data, including: Appalachia, Great Plains, Midwest, Mountain, Northeast, Pacific, South Central, and Southeast. The regions represented agroclimatic zones, were subject to state boundaries, and closely correspond to the USDA "Farm Production Regions".

The information gathered in the study covered eight main topics: permanent and temporary employment figures, nursery rooting media systems, irrigation,
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