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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Washington, D.C. » National Arboretum » Floral and Nursery Plants Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #412807
Research Project: Functional Genomics, Genetic Improvement, and Sustainable Production of Nursery Crops

Location: Floral and Nursery Plants Research

Title: How natural resources, consumer perceptions, and labor are transforming the U.S. nursery industry

Author
item FIELDS, JEB - Louisana State University
item NACKLEY, LLOYD - Oregon State University
item Shreckhise, Jacob - Jake
item BAMPASIDOU, MARIA - Louisana State University
item CONTRERAS, RYAN - Oregon State University
item KANTROVICH, ADAM - Clemson University
item KNUTH, MELINDA - North Carolina State University
item Owen Jr, James - Jim
item WHITE, SARAH - Clemson University

Submitted to: HortTechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/26/2024
Publication Date: 6/26/2024
Citation: Fields, J.S., Nackley, L.L., Shreckhise, J.H., Bampasidou, M., Contreras, R.N., Kantrovich, A.J., Knuth, M.J., Owen Jr, J.S., White, S.A. 2024. How natural resources, consumer perceptions, and labor are transforming the U.S. nursery industry. HortTechnology. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-24-0005-PDN.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-24-0005-PDN

Interpretive Summary: Nursery operations must adapt to changes in societal trends, weather patterns, and availability of natural resources to remain competitive. A professional interest group of nursery crop scientists asked six experts in various disciplines to provide their opinions and insights into the future of the nursery industry, including both challenges and opportunities. Some of the expected challenges the experts highlighted include continued labor shortages and increased dependency on the H2-A migrant worker program; weather extremes causing crop stress and affecting availability of high-quality irrigation water; and increased pricing volatility of essential production inputs, including container media and fertilizer. The panel asserted that these challenges will also create opportunities in areas such as marketing (e.g., assigning buzzwords such as “compostable” or “recycled” to relevant products) and plant-breeding (e.g., improving drought-tolerance and resistance to emerging pests). The information provided in this paper will aid growers in adjusting to an evolving industry and inform the greater scientific community of research topics that will likely be highly relevant to the nursery industry in the next decade.

Technical Abstract: The nursery industry produces and sells plants for landscape and environmental purposes and represents a major sector within the U.S. agricultural industry. In recent years, the nursery industry has undergone rapid growth due to various factors including increased demand from housing development and pandemic-fueled interest in home-horticulture. As with any industry, the nursery industry must adapt to changes in societal trends in order to sustain growth. In the wake of unprecedented societal and supply chain issues stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the American Society for Horticultural Science Nursery Crops Professional Interest Group gathered experts in various disciplines to provide their opinions and insights into the future of the nursery industry, focusing specifically on the changes and challenges the nursery industry will face in the coming decade. Nursery crop specialists spanning the U.S. identified three primary areas that will steer future momentum of the nursery industry: consumer trends, natural resources, and labor. Six experts were selected to represent these areas in a workshop held at the American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference in Chicago, IL (2022 July). This manuscript was developed to disseminate the discussions held and insight shared during that workshop with the greater scientific community.