Among the many issues of the pandemic, the fragility of the supply chain will likely endure until producers and other participants in the chain find solutions to make it more resilient. One aspect of doing so is developing better local markets for goods. Esha Chhabra, a writer and journalist who foc...

At their 2024 Winter Policy Conference in early February, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture encouraged USDA, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to “immediately collaborate on a strategy to secure the labor force and ensure the success...

MONROE, NC – King’s Greenhouse is a wholesale grower in southern North Carolina which grows seeded annuals, vegetative annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, herbs, vegetables and more for independent garden centers, landscapers, golf courses and resorts. They also sell to nonprofits, such as churche...

No matter what the industry is, employees play an essential role in a business. Hiring and employee retention are two aspects that managers and owners must take seriously. Not only are the employees working to help keep the business running, but they also interact with your paying customers, meaning...

When we look around us at the towering and majestic plants called trees, it’s hard to imagine how we humans could be responsible for their untimely deaths outside of chopping them down. John Palmer, an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, explained several ways we could unknowingly contribute to the...

From 2019 to 2021, the demand for indoor foliage plants increased a lot. The wholesale value of begonias, pleomeles, bromeliads, ferns and more grew from $616 million to $762 million in that timeframe. “In 2020, Florida grew 69% of those plants – and that raised the risk of exporting Florida pests a...

It’s a topic that isn’t fun to think about, but one that everyone should act on: estate planning. Paul Goeringer, attorney and senior faculty and Extension specialist, University of Maryland, stated that in a survey published in 2023, 66% of Americans don’t have an estate plan – and 46% of people ag...

Indoor winter production has always fascinated me. I often reflect on the conservatories of the super-rich such as Longwood Gardens and the Dupont family and think how they had fresh veggies, flowers and fruits in the dead of winter. Today, the use of greenhouses and high tunnels have permitted the ...

Seed Your Future is launching a program to train high school science teachers nationwide about the horticulture and floriculture industries and give them resources to talk about career opportunities in the classroom. The educator professional development program was created by a third party for the ...

Dr. Karly Regan, Penn State Extension, has some tips for growers planning pesticide applications for the upcoming season. “If something goes wrong with your application, it can result in losing those plants and lost profits,” said Regan. “A lot of wasted time was spent mixing product, getting it int...

According to Lisa Chase, even though agritourism has been important to many states for decades, it didn’t receive much attention at the federal level until recently. Chase is the director of the Vermont Tourism Research Center and the chair of the Global Agritourism Network (GAN). Various stakeholde...

Businesses who find good employees and spend time and resources to train them often find it tough to keep those employees on the payroll long-term. In a webinar by AmericanHort , representatives from four successful horticultural business discussed their training programs that incentivize long-term ...

Believe it or not, the oldest Millennials will be turning 42 or 43 this year. As more of the Baby Boomers retire – and Gen X inches toward AARP membership – more and more of those in Gen Z will be entering the workforce, including in the ag industry. There are a lot of sources out there trying to pr...

Agriculture can be a risky business. Equipment, chemicals, livestock and infrastructure such as grain bins or manure pits are just a few of the dangers that farmers interact with on a daily basis. Other, perhaps less obvious dangers include slippery surfaces, ropes and cords that can cause trips and...

The humble bell pepper is one of the most widely grown vegetable crops in the world. American growers produce more than 1.5 billion pounds of peppers annually. Despite that impressive number, though, they are an expensive crop to grow. Steve West of Research Designed for Agriculture (RD4AG) presente...