Flower and nursery growers interested in seeing how fellow growers have adapted to changes in the marketplace will experience it firsthand, during the California Ornamental Research Federation's (CORF) Grower Tour on June 10.

The tour, titled "Remaining Competitive in Today's Market," will take attendees to four different growing operations in or near Carpinteria, Calif.: Westerlay Orchids, a potted orchid nursery that completely retrofitted from cut roses; Ever-Bloom Inc., a cut gerbera and anthurium grower producing flowers in state-of-the-art greenhouses and marketing proactive environmental practices; Rivendell Aromatics, a lavender grower capitalizing on niche marketing and value-add products; and San Marcos Growers, a container nursery specializing in drought-tolerant plants. 

Growing and marketing sustainable crops, increasing consumer demand for plant products and using mechanization to reduce labor costs are among the topics that will be discussed and demonstrated on the tours.

In addition to the hosts of the growing operations, speakers during the day-long event include Michelle Dennis, California Department of Food & Agriculture; Tom Costamagna, Department of Entomology, UC Davis; Jim Bethke, UC Cooperative Extension, San Diego; Michael Keyes, Scientific Certification Systems (for Veriflora) and Julie Newman, UC Cooperative Extension, Ventura.

For program details and to register online, check the CORF Web site.

--Kate F. Penn
kpenn@safnow.org

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