EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan remains in third place in national ranking in value of wholesale sales of floriculture products in 2020, behind California and Florida, according to Marlo Johnson, Regional Director of USDA, NASS, Great Lakes Regional Office. Reports from Michigan’s 549 commercial growers (with $10K or more in gross sales) showed an estimated wholesale value of $502.6 million for all surveyed floriculture crops, up $63.1 million from last year. This estimate includes sales data reported by growers with $100K or more in sales, plus a calculated wholesale value of sales for operations with sales from $10,000 to $99,999.
The leading crop category breakdowns for Michigan operations with more than $100K in sales were:
- First, annual bedding/garden plants with $247.7 million in sales.
- Second, herbaceous perennial plants with $79.6 million in sales.
- Third, potted flowering plants with $52.0 million in sales. Fourth, foliage plants with $19.7 million in sales.
Michigan leads the nation in value of sales for 13 floriculture crops:
- Begonias Flats with 929,000 flats sold, valued at $7.96 million.
- Impatiens, New Guinea with 195,000 flats sold, valued at $1.82 million.
- Impatiens Flats (other) with 1.3 million flats sold, valued at $9.85 million.
- Petunias Flats with 1.5 million flats sold, valued at $12.70 million.
- Begonias Hanging Baskets with 820,000 baskets sold, valued at $6.29 million.
- Geranium Hanging Baskets (cuttings) with 954,000 baskets sold, valued at $7.64 million.
- Impatiens Hanging Baskets (other) with 580,000 sold, valued at $3.45 million.
- Marigolds Hanging Baskets with 73,000 sold, valued at $371,000.
- Pansies/Viola Hanging Baskets with 359,000 sold, valued at $2.32 million
- Petunias Hanging Baskets with 1.7 million baskets sold, valued at $11.0 million.
- Other Flowering and Foliar Hanging Baskets with 3.2 million baskets sold, valued at $24.2 million.
- Potted Geraniums (cuttings) with 5.27 million pots sold, valued at $14.4 million.
- Spring Flowering Bulbs for Indoor Use with 7.57 pots sold, valued at $14.5 million
Total covered area for all operations in the state was 50.7 million square feet. This includes both rigid and film plastic greenhouses, glass greenhouses, shade, and temporary cover. Only California and Florida had more total cover.
Nationally, the 2020 wholesale value of floriculture crops is up 9 percent from the 2019 valuation. The total crop value at wholesale for all growers with $10,000 or more in sales is estimated at $4.80 billion for 2020, compared with $4.42 billion for 2019. Florida, the leading State with crops valued at $1.14 billion, up 7 percent from the 2019 value. California, the next largest producer, is down 5 percent from the prior year to $967 million in wholesale value. These two States account for 44 percent of the total value. For 2020, the top 5 States are Florida, California, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio which account for $3.13 billion or 65 percent of the total value.
The number of producers for 2020, at 5,930, is up 14 percent from the 2019 count of 5,198. Total covered area for floriculture crop production was 748 million square feet in 2020, down slightly from the 2019 area of 749 million square feet.
The average peak number of hired workers employed on operations in 2020 was 19. A total of 4,310 operations hired workers during 2020 compared with 4,007 a year earlier. Overall, 73 percent of operations used some hired labor during 2020, down 4 percentage point from 2019.
— USDA NASS Great Lakes Region
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