Industry News

Floriculture Statistics

Massachusetts Flower Growers Association (MFGA) News - Board of Directors for 2009: President - David Volante, Volante Farms Vice-President - David Giurleo, Colonial Gardens. Past President - Fred Dabney, Quanset Nursery, Board members include Bart King, King Farm, Townsend; Sandy Baldwin, Russell's Garden Center, Wayland; Jodie Gilson, Gilson Farms, Groton; David Fiske, Mass Hort Society, Dover; Leanne Araujo, Araujo Farms, Dighton; Jason Hutchins, The Flower Hutch, Townsend; John Conners, Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, Ashland; Cynthia Bertrand, The Farmer's Daughter, Auburn.; Bob Hawkes, Griffin Greenhouse and Nursery Supplies, Tewksbury; David Giurleo, Colonial Gardens, Concord; Ed Bemis, Bemis Farms Nursery, Spencer; Mike Dairymple, Northbrook Greenhouses, Berlin.

Massachusetts Floriculture Statistics

A recent study (January, 2006) of the impact of the Environmental Horticulture Industry on the New England economy is available at http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/nesurvey/index.htm

• Flower Power in Massachusetts
• Wholesale floriculture and nursery production is 34.2 percent of cash receipts for agricultural crops.
• Greenhouse and nursery production is ranked 2nd in New England in cash receipts for all agricultural commodities. Dairy is number one.
• Massachusetts is ranked 19th in the nation for wholesale value of floriculture crops.
• Flower crop production had a wholesale value of $77 Million in Massachusetts in 2004.
• There are 10 Million square feet of greenhouse space devoted to floriculture in Massachusetts and this figure is growing all the time.
• There are 400 acres of field production in floriculture in Massachusetts.
• Each household in the northeast spends an average of $44 annually.
• Land and building in floriculture production in Massachusetts is valued at $320 Million.
• The amount of payroll paid to hired labor in Floriculture in Massachusetts in 2001 was $45 Million.
• There were 5,000 employees hired in wholesale Floriculture industry in Massachusetts.
• There were over 5 Million geraniums grown and sold by Massachusetts Flower Growers in 2004.
• The wholesale value of poinsettias grown and sold by Massachusetts growers was $4 Million in 2004.
• There were $10 Million wholesale value of annual bedding plants grown and sold by mass growers in 2004.
• Potted Herbaceous perennials valued at $7 Million were grown and sold by Mass growers in 2004.

Sources: New England Agricultural Statistics Service, May 19, 2005 report for CT & MA, USDA Floriculture Crops 2001 Summary, USDA Floriculture and Nursery Crops Outlook, September 2002, 1997 Census of Agriculture, Census of Horticultural Specialties (1998).