Latest USDA-NASS Floriculture Crops report released

Highlights from the latest Floriculture Crops report:

The 2008 wholesale value of floriculture crops is down 2 percent from the revised 2007 valuation. The total crop value at wholesale for the 15-State program for all growers with $10,000 or more in sales is estimated at $4.22 billion for 2008, compared with $4.32 billion for 2007. California continues to be the leading State with crops valued at $1.02 billion, but is down 2 percent from the 2007 value. Florida, the next largest producer, is down 5 percent from the prior year to $922 million in wholesale value. These two States account for 46 percent of the 15-State total value. For 2008, the top 5 States are California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, and North Carolina, which account for $2.80 billion, or 66 percent, of the 15-State total value.

The number of producers for 2008, at 7,189, is down 3 percent in the 15 States compared with the revised 2007 count of 7,387. The number of producers with sales of $100,000 or more dropped 5 percent to 2,967 for 2008 from 3,136 in 2007.

In the 15-State program, total covered area for floriculture crop production was 729 million square feet, 5 percent less than the revised 2007 figure. Greenhouse space for 2008, at 414 million square feet, is down 2 percent from 2007. This accounts for 57 percent of the total covered area. Shade and temporary cover is down 8 percent, to 314 million square feet. Open ground totaled 33,150 acres, 5 percent less than the revised 2007 total.

The average peak number of hired workers employed on operations in the 15-State program in 2008 is 17.0, down 1 percent from a revised 17.2 in 2007. A total of 5,313 operations hired workers during 2008, compared with 5,460 a year earlier. Overall, 74 percent of operations used some hired labor during 2008, the same as in 2007.

Click here for the full report.