Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

• Alan Hodges provided an update on the national nursery survey. A summary report was published in JEH with a follow-up on trade flows (also published in JEH).  Alan has completed the data file for the past 4 survey cycles (~20 years) and has a standing open invitation for collaboration on projects. (Note: due to modifications in the questionnaire, several variables are not directly comparable across datasets.).  The next survey will be in 2019 (2018 data) and it is time to start thinking about a funding source (previously HRI).  At least $30,000 is needed to conduct the survey.  A subcommittee needs to be developed in the next year or so to spearhead the proposal.  Additionally, the group needs to develop a succession plan for the project (Marco and/or Hayk were mentioned as candidates). 
  • Florida, Kentucky, and Minnesota data have been used for publications.
  • Robin Brumfield is working on New Jersey data.
  • Ariana Bravo Torres expressed interest in collaborating on the Indiana data.
  • Cheryl Boyer expressed interest in working on the Kansas data.
  • Hayk Khachatryan suggested developing subgroups with similar interests to cut down on the number of authors. The group discussed that communicating with the group via email is the best method to gauge interest.  Whoever is the lead on the idea/paper decides on whom to include.
  • Ben Campbell (and Hayk) volunteered to compare the data set and the 2014 data to adjust the survey for 2019.
    • Sue Barton suggested including ‘newspaper’ on the media usage list in future.
    • Alan Hodges suggested considering health insurance and coverage in the industry in the 2019 survey.
  • Ben Campbell proposed working on labor and water use using the previous two data sets. Hayk Khachatryan and Robin Brumfield expressed interest in collaborating.
  • Hayk Khachatryan briefly discussed Marco Palma’s paper on advertising.