Crops
Farm Bureau hosts traceability meeting - North Carolina Farm Bureau hosted the North Carolina Produce Traceability meeting that featured national speakers such as Dan Vache, United Fresh, Redding, Washington, and Angela Fernandez, GS1, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Additionally, Dr. Benjamin Chapman presented the results of a NC Tobacco Trust Fund project administered by NCDA&CS that provided a baseline of produce traceability for North Carolina’s growers to identify gaps and opportunities for how the state’s industry will meet buyer’s traceability requirements and expected pending regulatory change regarding produce traceability. The audience also heard from three traceability software/program solutions providers. NCFB co-sponsored the event working with the NC Blueberry Council, NC Sweet Potato Commission and the NC Vegetable Growers Association.
Floriculture industry sales down 7% nationally, but up in NC - USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service released the 2009 Floriculture Crops Summary. The 2009 wholesale value of floriculture crops was down 7% from the revised 2008 valuation. The total crop value at wholesale for the 15 state program for all growers with $10,000 or more in sales was estimated at $3.8 billion for 2009, compared with $4.1 billion for 2008. California continues to be the leading state with crops valued at $935 million, but was down 12% from the 2008 value. Florida, the next largest producer, at $696 million was down 9% from the prior year to in wholesale value. These 2 states account for 43% of the 15-state total value. The top 5 states are California, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas, which account for $2.5 billion, or 66% of the 15 state total value. The number of producers for 2009, at 6,457, was down 13% in the 15 states compared with the revised 2008 count of 7,362. The number of producers with sales of $100,000 or more dropped 3% to 2,919 for 2009 from 3,019 in 2008. North Carolina floriculture crop production showed consolidation, with 99 fewer growers reporting (298 in 2009 vs. 347 in 2008), but growing more product. North Carolina floriculture producers grew crops valued at $252.6 million in 2009, up $36.8 million from 2008. Acreage reported in production is 26.4 million square feet of covered space and 2,107 acres outdoors. Average production value per acre is >$93,000.
Greenhouse growers wary of cost to be certified sustainable - Commercial flower growers want to tap into the growing market of consumers looking for sustainable products, but they aren't willing to go through a difficult and costly certification to do it at this time. Purdue University researchers, Roberto Lopez and Jennifer Dennis, assistant professors of horticulture, and Maria Marshall, an assistant professor of agricultural economics, found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. growers aren't interested in spending the time and money to become certified as sustainable. One-third hadn't even heard of certification organizations such as Veriflora and MPS, which can charge thousands of dollars for certifications. Based on surveys of 112 commercial flower growers, Lopez said the ability to recoup the cost of being certified is the growers' chief concern. He said the floriculture industry's profits have not always kept up with costs in the last decade, and most growers are unwilling to pay thousands of dollars for something that hasn't been proven to bring a return on investment. In the last decade, poinsettias, for example, have increased a little more than 13% in price, but the cost of natural gas has more than doubled. Growers with thin profit margins are concerned about spending on a certification that isn't guaranteed to raise profits.