Nurseries and greenhouses sold nearly $1 billion worth of products during 2018, according to a new estimate by the Oregon Department of Agriculture — good enough to qualify as Oregon’s best-selling agricultural commodity once again.
The precise ODA estimate of $996 million continues a steady climb in industry growth. It represents an increase from $947 million in 2017, $909 million in 2016, $895 million in 2015, $829 million in 2014, and $745 million in 2013. The all-time high was $1.039 billion in 2007, before dropping sharply due to the Great Recession and then starting to rise slowly again.
“We refer to Oregon as Nursery Country for a good reason — it’s the perfect place to grow a wide variety of nursery and greenhouse products,” OAN Executive Director Jeff Stone said. “Our state is blessed with an ideal climate, rich soil, ample water supply, adequate winter dormancy, and a long growing season. When you combine all of that with the ingenuity, passion and hard work of our growers, it results in a wide variety of high-quality nursery products — which is exactly what nursery buyers across the United States demand, and internationally as well.”
Oregon’s quality has long been recognized in the green industry.
“The numbers show Oregon’s strength in producing high quality plants,” Stone said. “It has been a long road back to this level of sales and all the credit goes to the growers and their craftsmanship.”
Finishing in second place was Oregon’s cattle industry, with an estimated $652 million in sales, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. In third place, also according to NASS, was hay, with $599 million in sales.
The OAN operates the Nursery Guide website and book to help buyers find the nursery products that they are looking for. Buyers can search the book index or website for trees, shrubs and plants using common or botanical names, and receive a list of nurseries that grow them, whether they are looking for bare root, containers, B&B, liners, seedlings, cut, bulbs or other (including grow bags or root pruning containers).
Searching the site is free; just go to www.NurseryGuide.com. The book and site also list services and supplies that are aimed at helping green industry businesses become more profitable. Copies of the book can be ordered for $14 each by calling 503-682-5089, or they can be picked up at select green industry trade shows (MANTS, Cultivate, Farwest and CanWest).
OAN members may list their plants, products and services on the site at low cost. Listings begin at $6.50 per plant, product or service, and the first listing is free.
