Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

McNiel discussed changes in the committee's membership since the last meeting. Hall commented on the committee's website listing of project participants. There were several comments about potential new committee members, and Hall overviewed the NIMSS process for inviting participants to the project.

The agenda was presented and approved with a motion by Hall, seconded by Behe. Behe moved and Brumfield seconded the approval of the last meeting's minutes as received with one amendment adding the meeting date, June 29, 2005.

Presidential comments (Bob McNiel): McNiel commented on the tour activities for this meeting, summarizing the previous day's tour and discussing the Wednesday tour schedule. Hall noted appreciation for McNiel's efforts in arranging a fantastic tour schedule and selecting exceptional accommodations.

Administrator's Report (Craig Nessler): Nessler gave an overview of the President's recently released budget, discussing some of the changes in formula funds and other funding allocations, specifically noting increases in competitive funds.

He mentioned that the Southern Agricultural Experiment Station Directors had a conference call and unanimously opposed the proposed budget. Each of the Directors is proposing impact statements to discuss some of the potential impacts. Extension Directors are also examining impacts on their state budgets.

Nessler commented on the need to examine the reporting systems to ensure that project activities are accurately reflected. He noted the success of this committee's reporting efforts and overall level of activity.

CSREES Report (Henry Bahn): Bahn began his report by commenting on the President's budget and the changing situation with the budget. He noted that much of the NRI growth has been at the expense of other programs. He supports the President's budget and stated his belief that the current trends - more competitive and multi-state funding - are likely to continue with additional increases in those areas. Additionally, he highlighted the change in funding focus away from commodities and more toward scientific areas, genomics for example. He noted that there was more money available for integrated funding proposals.

He then began discussions on the importance of the reporting systems. He noted that it is difficult to find relevant data on telling what is being done, specifically in terms of output, outcomes and impacts for CRIS reports. He mentioned the importance of identifying the scope and scale of work areas. He noted that we should be more attentive to discussing the impacts (macro) of our work, for example impacts on management practices, cost changes, revenue changes, etc.

Webpage Update (Charlie Hall): Hall gave an update of the committee's webpage. The committee will continue to use the www.S290.org registration since we are paid through the summer of 2006, changing to www.S1021.org upon the expiration date. Hall commented on the information available on the website (upcoming meeting information, tour information and pictures, project participants, and publications).

Manuscript reports:

Labor Study: Mathers gave an update of the labor study discussing the activities to date. She commented on the receptiveness of the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) to this type of project, suggesting opportunities for future work addressing labor issues. The project leaders are currently in the process of finalizing the state contact lists. She noted the wide range of labor issues being discussed and talked about the impact of communication or lack of communication on labor issues, primarily with Hispanic workers. She suggested the need to further address this area in terms of researching ways to improve communication between workers and employees.

Lastly, Mathers commented on the potential for future research on the impacts of "invasive plants" on the industry. Barton commented on an alternative approach for the committee, looking at viable marketing alternatives for the industry to combat this problem. The committee was supportive of working on the project but suggested including both perspectives in it. The project would have objectives that examine the costs of invasive plants as well as some alternatives from a marketing perspective. Committee includes Barton, Behe, Uva, Hodges, Dennis, and Mathers.

Budget - McNiel indicated that recent work on the project resulted in 40-60% of inputs costs being updated. Landscapes will be the first budget updated completely. Review team includes Hall, John Haydu, Hodges, and Mathers. There will be a re-release of the updated container and field costs as well as a new release of the landscape manuscript. All three will be Southern Cooperative Series Bulletins.

NRAES (Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service) - Hall began discussing our alliance with them. We currently have two 4-color publications listed on their site. The Greenhouse Profitability report was released in June 2005 with 36 copies sold. Establishing a Garden Center was released in Dec. 02 with 820 copies sold to date. There was discussion of our marketing efforts to assist with publicizing our publications. A publications marketing committee was formed to address this issue. Committee members include: Charlie Hall (chair), Jennifer Dennis, Bridget Behe, and Ron Rainey.

National Survey and Economic Impact Study - Hall noted recent completion of the 4th national survey (89, 94, 99, 04) which included 44 states and 97% of gross receipts in the U.S. He then gave an overview of the national economic impact of the green industry on the U.S. economy. He reported the industry output at $147.8 billion with 1.9 million jobs for the U.S. The report is available online at: www.utextension.utk.edu/hbin/greenimpact.html.

Hall noted the national exposure that the report has received from national industry publications, newspapers as well as the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) legislative conference. The committee is set up to conduct the economic impact in conjunction with the national survey. Hodges suggested the idea of listing the report as a Southern Cooperative Series Bulletin which the committee supported. Hodges also commented on the difference between the committee reported and National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) estimates. It was noted that there exists a NASS sub-committee which will meet in Washington, D.C. with NASS officials to discuss some of the methodology for the upcoming NASS surveys.

Progress on current studies:

Hodges presented an overview of the online nursery business analysis program that was developed at the University of Florida. Discussion ensued regarding appropriate means of rolling out this methodology on a regional basis. Suggestions for funding included the higher education challenge grants (RFA is next February), SARE in-service grants, HRI, etc. to fund a fully integrated project (research, teaching, and outreach goals). Hodges, Uva, Behe, and Brumfield volunteered to develop a HRI proposal for this year. Barton, Hall, and Dennis are interested in serving as a subcommittee.

McNiel reported on the price study. He collected prices on viburnums and junipers and needs someone to work on the study with him.

Brumfield reported on the status on the cut flower budget project. Ten budgets on cut flowers are underway as part of a Risk Management Association (RMA) grant project. Uva received a grant to do a cut flower study on cut flower production in high tunnels. Dennis and Behe also expressed an interest in working on this topic. Collaborations on this subject matter area were discussed.

Hall reported on the status of the cost of production study (climatic zones 7 & 8). A grant pre-proposal to the Southern Region Risk Management Education Center was approved, and the committee was invited to submit a full proposal for consideration for funding. If funded, Mississippi State University will update the budget generator to accommodate nursery crop budgets.

Behe reported on 2 manuscripts in progress on a project looking at (1) differences in consumer purchases by ethnicity and satisfaction/regret associated with such purchases, and (2) a study looking at the cognitive and emotional drivers of repeat purchases (loyalty) in terms of delight and perceived value which is being submitted to the Journal of Marketing Research.

Future meeting sites: Summer meeting: Atlanta, Georgia Winter meeting 2007: Florida (Alan Hodges will make the exact decision where).

Subcommittee meetings on invasive plants, NASS, publications marketing.

Meeting adjourned 4:04 p.m. Appreciation expressed to Drs. Bahn and Nessler for their invaluable contributions to this meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Ronald Rainey

Nineteen Land-Grant institutions participate in this project, and participants are both research and extension horticulturists and economists. Three major objectives have been identified, and subcommittees have been formed to design and implement the project.

Selected landscape installation techniques were evaluated based on establishment success and time required. Establishment was characterized using whole plant growth parameters. Regional conditions, such as soil type, amendment availability and temperature extremes were considered. Economic inputs required for installation and establishment will be developed.

Data to support analysis of adjustments in marketing and management practices of wholesale and retail firms will continue to be obtained by mail survey techniques.

Researchers plan to (1) ascertain the important quality factors and plant quality characteristics for a variety of woody plants and floriculture products, (2) identify the quality preferences of consumers and professionals, and (3) investigate the relationships between quality attributes and prices paid by customers. Studies will be conducted to investigate consumer expectations and perceptions of service quality received from diverse retail outlets for horticultural products and services.

Controlled in-store marketing tests will be conducted to determine the effect of display and price on purchasing decisions.

Participating states will use a common questionnaire soliciting information regarding management and marketing practices, production information, and detailed sales information regarding interstate movement of the product and the volume of business with various types of buyers. Plans are to ascertain the important quality factors and plant characteristics for a variety of woody plant and floriculture products, identify the quality preferences of consumers and professionals, and investigate the relationships between quality attributes and prices paid by customers.

Green roofs have been shown to reduce the stormwater runoff from buildings. In order to model the reduced stormwater effect of green roofs, reliable estimates of ET from the CAM plants is required. Greenhouse controlled environmental conditions were used to measure and predict ET from CAM plants during winter and fall/spring regimes, along with climatic parameters including air temperature, wind speed, radiation and humidity during 21-day periods without rain. The planted boxes evapotranspired 28% and 57% more water to the atmosphere than was evaporated from the unplanted boxes for the winter and spring/fall, respectively. ET for a green roof with CAM plants averaged 0.61 mm/d and 1.12 mm/d for each dry day during the winter and spring/fall season, respectively. The original Penman equation and Penman-Monteith ET models explained the observed ET rates very well with crop coefficients of 0.74 in winter and 1.97 in fall/spring.

A computer program designed to allow businesses to enter their data through a website is being developed to process the business analysis data from each company. The computer database will be able to generate individual business analyses, make comparisons with industry benchmarks, and be searchable based on specified characteristics. The survey will occur annually to maintain an ongoing working relationship with the greenhouse businesses and to establish a long-term database for industry trends, with a plan to expand the data collection to regional and national bases in the coming years.

Marketing- and production-related data have been collected as part of the S-290 Regional Research Committee's activity (formerly S-103) since 1988. Beginning with 1988, and then at five year intervals, in 1993, 1998, and 2003, mail-back surveys have been used to collect information on selected production practices, plants produced within various categories, sales by type of outlet, distribution of sales by state, advertising expenditures, and selling methods. The most comprehensive nationwide nursery industry survey was conducted for 2003. A master file of all certified nursery operations in 44 states resulted in a list of 38,269 certified nursery operations. These cross sectional data sets were provided to researchers and Extension workers in all of these states for their use in research and educational endeavors.

Risk management has received additional attention in the ornamentals industry. In response, scientists have received funding from the USDA-Risk Management Agency to conduct a series of workshops on financial analysis and risk management for horticulture industry producers in the southeast United States. These were conducted in 2005. A total of 10 states and territories were involved in the project. The training sessions were two-day events for 15 to 25 persons with a qualified interest (owners and managers of nurseries, greenhouses and sod farms, and other segments of the industry such as landscapers, lawn & garden retailers and other allied industry professionals, as appropriate)

In 2005 we were engaged in activities related to the multi-state project investigating the laborer level of the nursery industry, with seven state representatives from the S-1021 committee as cooperators. Outside funding was awarded.

In 2005, approximately 25 garden centers, landscapers and public gardens were added to the original three pilot sites. Data were collected during the 2005 growing season on plant sales and customer reaction to the point-of-purchase materials.

Research from this project has provided practical guidance to businesses in the environmental horticulture industry on a wide range of issues, including human resource management, financial management, business management, and marketing. More recently, a major national study of trade flows and marketing practices was just completed and published. This information allows growers, wholesalers, and retailers to better understand traditional product market flows, as well as emerging market trends. Economic impact analysis provided the industries with information on the contribution of their industry to the national, state, and local economies in terms of revenues generated, value added to the economy, jobs generated, and taxes paid. In addition to establishing an industry value and contribution, it also sheds light on investment opportunities for nursery firms and allied businesses.

Adrian, John L., Jennifer J. Cain, Patricia A. Duffy, Elizabeth A. Guertal, and J. Walter Prevatt. 2004. Turfgrass-Sod Production: An Economic Evaluation. J. Amer. Society Farm Mgrs. & Rural Appraisers. pp.12-18.

Barton, S., R. Darke and G. Schwetz. 2005. Enhancing Delaware Highways: Roadside Vegetation Concept and Planning Manual. Delaware Department of Transportation.

Beattie, D. J., Berghage, R. D. and Snodgrass, E. 2005. Plants and Substrates are the Heart of the Green Roof. Proc Int. Plant Prop. Soc. Accepted for Publication.

Behe, B., Hardy, J., Barton, S., Brooker, J., Fernandez, T., Hall, C., Hicks, J., Hinson, R., Knight, P., McNiel, R., Page, T., Rowe, B., Safley, C. and Schutzki, R. 2005. Landscape Plant Material, Size, and Design Sophistication Increase Perceived Home Value. Journal of Environmental Horticulture. 23:3:127-133.

Bigger, M. M., H.M. Mathers. 2005. Root hardiness and the influence of NA herbicides in overwintered containers. HortScience 40(4):1024.

Bigger, M.M., and H.M. Mathers. 2005. Root hardiness and the influence of dinitroaniline herbicides in overwintered containers. Northeastern Weed Science Society Proceedings. 59:36.

Brooker, J., D. Eastwood, C. Hall, K. Morris, A. Hodges, and J. Haydu. 2005. Trade Flows and Marketing Practices within the United States Nursery Industry. Southern Cooperative Series Bulletin 404, 76 pp.

Brooker, John, Charles R. Hall, David Eastwood and Alan W. Hodges. 2005. Marketing Practices Within the U.S. Nursery Industry: the 2003 National Survey. Proceedings of the Southern Nursery Association Research Conference, 50:

Brumfield, R.G. 2005. Benchmarks for Small Greenhouses. Presented at the 4th National Small Farm Conference, Greensboro, NC, Nov. 16-19, 2005.

Case, L.T. and H.M. Mathers. 2005. Herbicide-treated mulches for weed control in nursery container crops. Journal of Enviro. Hort. (In press).

Case L.T. and H.M. Mathers. 2005. Oryzalin movement in one-gallon containers from spray oryzalin-treated mulch applications. HortScience 40(4):1102.

Case L.T. and H.M. Mathers. 2005. Effects of dinitroaniline herbicides on root development in containers. Northeastern Weed Science Society Proceedings. 59:38.

Case, L.T., H.M. Mathers and A. F. Senesac. 2005. A review of weed control practices in container nurseries. HortTechnology 15(3):535-545.

DeNardo, J. C., Jarrett, A. R., Manbeck, H. B., Beattie, D. J. and Berghage, D. D. 2005. Stormwater mitigation and surface temperature reduction by green roofs. Transactions of ASAE 48(4): 1491-1496.

Hall, C.R. 2005. The Price is Right. American Nurseryman. 202(6). September 15.

Hall, C.R. 2005. Key Website Characteristics for Effective Green Industry Marketing. Tennessee Green Industry Tips. Vol.1, Issue 2. Summer issue.

Hall, C.R. 2005. Economic Impact of the Green Industry in the United States. Tennessee Green Industry Tips. Vol.1, Issue 3. Fall.

Hall, C., Eastwood, D., Combs, B. and Brooker, J. 2005. Structural Changes in the U.S. Nursery Industry 1988-2003. Proceedings of Southern Nurserymen's Associations Research Conference Fiftieth Annual Report. Vol. 50.

Hall, C., Brooker, J. and Eastwood, D. 2005. Structural Changes in the United States Nursery Industry 1988-2003. Proceedings of Southern Nursery Association Research Conference. Vol. 50. August.

Hall, Charles C., A.W. Hodges, and J.J. Haydu. 2005. Economic Impacts of the Green Industry in the United States. The Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 81pp.

Hall, Charles R., Alan W. Hodges and John J. Haydu. 2005. Economic Impacts of the Green Industry in the United States. Report to the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Committee; University of Florida/IFAS electronic document FE566, July 2005, 88 pages, available at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

Hall, C., Sorochan, J., Samples, T., McElroy, S. and Robinson, D. 2005. Cost of Managing a Bermudagrass Football Field in Tennessee. UT Extension. SP651.

Harod, J., S. Barton, V. Budischak, J. Gochenaur, F. Kuehn and G. Schwetz. 2005. Controlling Backyard Invaders. Delaware Cooperative Extension, Newark, DE.

Haydu, John J. and Alan W. Hodges. 2005. Florida sod production industry: a look back at the past forty years. Proceedings of the Southern Nursery Association Research Conference, 50:

Haydu, John J., Alan W. Hodges and Charles R. Hall. 2005. Economic Impacts of the Turfgrass Industry in the United States. Report to the International Turfgrass Producers Foundation, University of Florida/IFAS, 41 pages.

Haydu, John J., L.N. Satterthwaite, and J.L. Cisar. 2005. An Economic and Agronomic Profile of Florida's Sod Production Industry in 2003. Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Food & Resource Economics Department, Mid-Florida REC, University of Florida, IFAS, April, 34 pp.

Hodges, Alan W., Charles R Hall and John J. Haydu. 2005. The Big Green Machine. Ornamental Outlook, p. 36, Nov. 2005.

Hodges, Alan W., Charles R. Hall and John J. Haydu. 2005. Economic Impacts of the Environmental Horticulture Industry in the United States. Proceedings of the Southern Nursery Association Research Conference, vol 50, pp. 305-310, Dec. 2005.

Hodges, Alan W. and John J. Haydu. Analyze This! Greenhouse Grower, p. 60, May 2005.

Hodges, A., Haydu, J. and Hall, C. 2005. Economic Impacts of the Environmental Horticulture Industry in the United States. Proceedings of Southern Nurserymen's Associations Research Conference Fiftieth Annual Report. Vol. 50.

Jarecki, M., Kling, J.G. and Williams, D.J. 2005. Effect of planting depth on the growth of four taxa of shade trees. Proceeding from the Root Architecture Symposium, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.

Klingeman, W., Hall, C. and Babbit, B. 2005. Master Gardener Perception of Genetically Modified Ornamental Plants. Proceedings of Southern Nurserymen's Associations Research Conference Fiftieth Annual Report. Vol. 50.

Mathers, H.M. 2005. Ornamental weed control. Summary of presentations Ohio pesticide applicator recertification conference Pp. 42-47.

Mathers, H.M. 2005. Greenhouse weed control. American Nurseryman 202(7): 24-26, 28-29.

Mathers, H.M. 2005. Overwintering ornamental plant material: The cold facts. Indiana Nursery and Landscape News 65(5):30-33.

Mathers, H.M. 2005. Problematic weeds in Ohio landscapes and nurseries: Part 4. The Buckeye. January Pp. 16 and 18.

Mathers, H.M. 2005. The power of Ayuda Techna: Technical training opportunities for Hispanic employees. The Buckeye. June Pp. 14, 17.

Mathers, H.M. and L.T. Case. 2005. Field evaluation of various herbicide and mulch combinations for ornamental weed control. HortScience 40(4):997-998.

Mathers, H.M. and L.T. Case. 2005. Field evaluation of various herbicide and mulch combinations for ornamental weed control. Northeastern Weed Science Society Proceedings 59:45.

Mathers, H.M. and L.T. Case. 2005. Problematic weeds in Ohio landscapes and nurseries: Part 4. The Buckeye. February Pp. 15-18.

Mathers, H. M. and L.T. Case. 2005. The latest research in ornamental weed control. Part 1: Issues, new herbicides. The Buckeye. March Pp. 15-18.

Mathers, H. M. and L.T. Case. 2005. The latest research in ornamental weed control. Part 2: New formulations. The Buckeye. April Pp. 14, 18.

Mathers, H. M. and L.T. Case. 2005. The latest research in ornamental weed control. Part 3: Field evaluation of various herbicide and mulch combinations for ornamental weed control. The Buckeye. May Pp. 14, 18, 20.

Mathers, H.M. and L.T. Case. 2005. Field evaluation of various herbicide and mulch combinations for ornamental weed control. The Buckeye. July Pp. 18-19.

Mathers, H.M. E.S.I. Grosskurth, M. M. Bigger, L.T. Case and J.A. Pope. 2005. Development of an Ohio liner production system in retractable roof houses: Field comaparison with West Coast-grown liners. HortScience 40(4):1048.

Mathers, H.M., S.B. Lowe, D.K. Struve and C. Scagel. 2005. Factors altering root growth in nursery containers. Part 2: Media decomposition and chemical Properties. The Buckeye. October Pp. 15-18.

Mathers, H.M., S.B. Lowe, D.K. Struve and C. Scagel. 2005. Factors altering root growth in nursery containers. Part 1: Media physical properties. The Buckeye. September Pp. 15-18.

Mathers, H.M., J.A. Pope and L.T. Case. 2005. Further investigations into herbicide treated mulch. Northeastern Weed Science Society Proceedings. 59:47.

Mathers, H.M., A. A. Stoven, D. K. Struve, L.T. Case and E. S. I. Grosskurth. 2005. Liners benefit from retractable roofs. Nursery Management and Production 21(9):67-70.

Mathers, H.M., A. A. Stoven, D. K. Struve, E. S. I. Grosskurth and L.T. Case 2005. Tree liner production in retractable roof greenhouses (RRGs). The Buckeye. Educational Update. June Pp. 1-8.

Mathers, H. M., and Stushnoff, C. 2005. Screening Malus seedlings for cold resistance. HortScience 40 (2):318-322.

Mathers, H. M., Yeager, T. and Case, L. T. 2005. Improving irrigation water use in container nurseries. HortTechnology 15(1):8-12.

Maynard, B. 2005. What is Your Favorite Plant? Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association Newsletter. 51(3):14-16.

McNiel, R. E. & S. Bale. 2005. Evaluation of Hydrangea macrophylla for Cut Stem Potential. Nur. Land. Prog. Res. Report PR-520. Univ. of Kentucky. pp. 35-36.

Park, D.M., Cisar, J.L., McDermitt, D.K., Williams, K.E., Haydu, J.J., and Miller, W.P. 2005. Using Red and Infrared Reflectance and Visual Observation to Monitor Turf Quality and Water Stress in Surfactant-treated Bermudagrass Under Reduced Irrigation. Journal of International Turfgrass Research, 10(2): 115-120.

Phillips, J. D. 2005. Assessing Consumer Preference for Value-Added Horticultural Products. M.S. Thesis. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 106 pp.

Sicuranza J., N. Castrataro, B. Johnson, and B. Maynard. 2005. Softwood Cutting Propagation of Native Lauraceae (Lindera benzoin (L.) Bl. and Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees.) as Alternatives to Invasive Horticultural Plants. Proc. Int. Plant Prop. Soc. 55: (in press).

Stachler, J, M. Rose, H.M. Mathers (Technical advisors/contributors). Folck, C. and J. Kick-Raack. 2005. Ohio pesticide applicator training: A study guide for commercial industrial vegetation applicators. Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 841-5. Pp. 1-105.

Thuring, C. E. 2005. Green Roof Plant Responses to Different Media and Depths when Exposed to Drought. M.S. Thesis. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 96 pp.

Uva, W.L. 2005. Chapter 5. Variable Costs: General Discussion, Chapter 6. Calculating Variable Costs, and Chapter 15. Profitability in the Greenhouse Industry. -Tips on Operating a Profitable Greenhouse Business. OFA-An Association of Floriculture Professionals. Columbus, Ohio.

Uva, W.L. 2005. Chapter 10. Ornamentals. New York Economic Handbook 2006. Dept. of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Wehry, R. H., Kelley, K. M., Berghage, R. D. and Sellmer, J. C. 2005. Using intercept and telephone survey methods to assess consumer awareness and purchasing of Pennsylvania gardener selects, HortTechnology 15 (1): 157-163.