Florida growers got some good press for their businesses — and the challenges they face — in a local paper.

On Nov. 17, the Palm Beach Post ran an article, "Cut Flower Firmly Planted in Martin," highlighting the three local flower growers that have survived "despite an avalanche of carnations, chrysanthemums and roses imported from South America and Africa."

The article states that Sunshine State Carnations in Hobe Sound, and Holzinger Flowers and Dick's Flowers in Palm City "remain competitive because they are able to deliver freshness, quality and consistency."

"It's nice to hear good things about agriculture," says Eric Nissen, AAF, vice president and head of sales at Sunshine State, and a past SAF board member. "A lot of the time you only hear bad things about agriculture — like about pesticides and things like that."

The article discusses the troubles local growers face — namely, finding legal workers and an alternative to the fumigant methyl bromide, which is banned except under critical-use exemptions granted by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The article also quotes SAF's past president Terril Nell, AAF, Ph.D., of University of Florida at Gainesville, on the effect of urbanization on Florida growers. "We started seeing declines 20 years ago, due to imports. Then development kicked in, and the rest is history," he told the paper.

Susan Salisbury, the article's author, proposed her story idea to Nissen during a meeting with Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Charles Connor at the USDA's U.S. Horticultural Research Lab in Ft. Pierce, Fla. "The article was very nice — I like that it focused on how we are able to stay in business in the face of so much competition," Nissen says.

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

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