Rising tide

There are very few secrets among growers. The majority of green industry representatives are more than willing to divulge information about production processes, marketing techniques or business management help. It’s this propensity to help a fellow grower that inspired the GIE Media Horticulture Group to host Uncensored: Inside the Business of Horticulture last fall in Cleveland, Ohio.

For two days, both nursery and greenhouse growers discussed marketing, finance, automation, labor, water and shipping in a roundtable setting.

Attendees shared how their sales had been strong in 2015, and a report released at the end of 2015 confirmed those observations. Read more about the USDA’s Census of Horticulture in this issue.

The housing market is experiencing healthy growth, and growers are ready to take advantage of that positive change. If you’re wondering where the hottest real estate markets are, we’re sharing that information in this issue.

Market shortages and the pressure it’s putting on the industry was an important topic at the event. Learn more about crop shortages in this issue.

Charlie Hall, Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M University, kicked off the first day of sessions with a lively presentation about meeting the future challenges of the industry. Jeff Burch, Nursery-Greenhouse Group Team Leader at Bank of the West, led the discussion on four aspects of finance — liquidity, leverage/debt, profitability and economic leading indicators — on day two of the event. See more on these presentations in this issue.

Legislation is always affecting the green industry – sometimes in a positive way but often in a challenging way. Uncensored participants deliberated about a few of the new rule changes and laws. And in this special section, HR expert Jean Seawright breaks down three critical laws in The Human Resource, a new column for 2016.

The approach to marketing differs widely among the industry, which was revealed during our event. But new research from AmericanHort sheds some light on how to improve the way we talk to the consumer. Learn more in this issue.

And finally, we wrap up our Uncensored coverage with some shrewd observations from a few of our participants. Share these good nuggets of wisdom with your staff.