The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently decided its Census of Horticultural Specialties should be conducted more frequently. The census provides statistics on several agricultural segments, including floral and nursery, and will serve as a follow-up to the USDA's Census of Agriculture, which surveys the state of the entire agriculture industry. The Census of Horticulture survey provides vital details about the state of the industry, but it hasn't been conducted for 10 years. It will now be conducted in 2009 and 2014.

Ira Silvergleit, SAF's director of Research and Information, is a member of the USDA's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Statistics, which made the recommendation to conduct the Census of Horticulture Specialties on a more regular basis.

During the group's meeting on May 2 and May 3, Silvergleit says the committee also decided to change how it addresses the floriculture and nursery segments in its Census of Agriculture. In order collect more detailed information about the floriculture industry, the proposed Census of Agriculture (to be conducted in 2008) will once again distinguish between individual producer segments: cut flowers, potted flowering plants, foliage, and bedding and garden plants.

Previously, the Census of Agriculture grouped floriculture and nursery segments together in one figure -- a practice which caused a "serious void in data about our industry," says Silvergleit.

"This effort is absolutely important because [the results of the census] will help us understand [flowers and plants] being produced, so that companies can adjust their marketing plans accordingly," says Lin Schmale, SAF's senior director of government relations. "It also will help us more effectively present the overall value of our industry to agriculture, which is important when lobbying for increased research funding."

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

 

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