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Creating ‘standard work’

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Finding and reinforcing best work flows helps nurseries run a tighter ship Walk into JLPN Inc., a seeding operation and nursery in Salem, Oregon, and even if you’re not familiar with how to harvest or grade container seedlings, you’d soon be doing it like an experienced hand. How? Simply by looking at the laminated diagrams […]

Keeping things moving

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The Lean concept of continuous flow delivers big for Oregon’s nurseries Twenty people to five. A quarter-mile span to 20 feet. One week to 20 minutes. What do these all have in common? They are all some of the head-scratching efficiencies that individual nurseries across Oregon have realized since they’ve implemented one key Lean concept […]

The value of influence

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Nurseries strategically seek influence and recap the rewards About 10 years ago, Costa Farms launched a campaign called “O2 for You,” which was designed to play up the valuable role that houseplants can play in cleaning pollutants out of indoor air. The Miami, Florida-based horticultural grower — now one of the largest in the world — compiled […]

Taxing times for trade

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How Trump’s tariffs and trade policies are impacting Oregon’s nursery industry Jeff Stone has been in the nursery industry in Oregon for nearly 15 years. And in that time, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries has seen his share of industry ups and downs, particularly in the area of trade. Most recently, […]

Working wonders

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Despite pervasive labor struggles, nurseries find ways to find workers There was a time, up until 2006 or 2007, when Robinson Nursery in McMinnville, Oregon would lay off at least 30 percent of its workforce every year, just after the fall season and heading into winter. Back then, the nursery industry’s labor pool included a […]

Where plant demand is headed

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Nurseries navigate a new landscape as consumer demand evolves Americans love their pets. A lot. In 2017, they spent nearly $70 billion on their animal companions, and that number’s expected to rise to $100 million by the end of the decade, according to the American Pet Products Assocation. They also, it seems, love their smartphones, […]

An illuminating trend

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LEDs are helping nurseries gain all kinds of new efficiencies A mid-January morning in Hillsboro, Oregon: It’s gray, it’s drizzly and, most depressingly, it’s dark. Dark enough that 10:30 in the morning feels like dusk, which at this time of year comes far too early for most; dark enough that the region would be lucky to […]

Green trade groups adapt to the changing landscape

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Nonprofit nursery associations continually adapt to help their members succeed Like many large nursery associations in the United States, the Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association (MNLA) has a big, broad spectrum of members it represents: nursery stock growers, commercial flower companies, landscape design firms, irrigation companies, arborists, lawn care business, mom-and-pop shops, massive agriculture operations […]

Better production cycles mean greater success

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For Mike Heller of the Mount Angel-based Kraemer’s Nursery — and for probably just about any other seasoned nursery grower out there — the key to success can be boiled down to three simple things. “The biggest things for nurseries are space, time and money,” he said. “Those are the biggest limiting factors — and the […]