Abstract

This article provides an overview of marketing and production practices of the U.S. nursery and greenhouse industry in 2008, based on information collected through the 2009 National Nursery Survey, the fifth such survey since 1988. Lists of nursery firms for each state were assembled from the respective Department of Agriculture (Plant Health Board) offices responsible for licensing nursery producers. The compiled state lists resulted in a combined listing of 38,000 certified nursery operations. A total of 3,044 usable questionnaires were returned from a sample of 17,019 firms for an effective 17.9 % response rate. The survey was administered through both mail and internet questionnaires, with repeated contacts attempted, and a follow-up telephone survey on non-respondents. Survey respondents reported total annual sales of $4.45 billion in 2008, or an average of $1.73 million per firm, and total employment of 48,833 permanent and temporary jobs. Based on an adjusted population of validated active firms (19,803), total U.S. nursery industry sales were estimated at $27.14 billion, and total employment was estimated at 262,941 jobs. The highest sales and employment were in the Pacific and Southeast regions, led by the states of California and Florida. Overall, 77 percent of sales were made through wholesale outlets including landscape firms, single-location garden centers, and re-wholesalers.