From left to right-- Mark Peters, cochair of North Carolina Green Industry Council's Legislative Committee and president of Piedmont Carolina Nursery & Landscaping; Dr. Paul Thomas, professor and Extension agent, University of Georgia; James Harwell, executive director of Alabama Nursery & Landscape Association; Dr. Allan Armitage, professor and contributing editor, University of Georgia; Dr. Hugh Poole, Fafard; and Delilah Onofrey, Editor of Greenhouse Grower.

After several years of dealing with drought, the nursery and greenhouse industries have started to make regulatory progress, but there's still work to be done. At the Southeast Greenhouse Conference, a panel of association and academic leaders met for Greenhouse Grower's seventh annual industry luncheon, sponsored by Fafard, to discuss what's happened so far and where we still need to go.

Impact Studies
Both the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association and the North Carolina Green Industry Council have performed economic impact studies, which have shown the huge impact the green industry has on the economies of those states.

"It's opened more doors than anything," says James Harwell, the executive director of the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association. He says the process has helped the organization learn the importance of educating the consumer, and new brochures have been developed to share water-saving tips with consumers.

Dealing With The Political Side
Working with political and government entities has helped industry associations find the resources they need. Alabama has partnered with the Birmingham Water Works to develop ads targeting consumers. The two organizations usually go head to head, but in this case have developed a relationship to help consumers keep the water flowing. 

Mark Peters of the North Carolina Green Industry Council says the organization got support from the farm bureau and other government agencies, which were a springboard to commercials and brochures for consumers.

State Level Support
Reporting to legislators on how operations use water is vital, according to the University of Georgia's Paul Thomas. Lobbyists in Georgia have found success at the state level. For instance, lobbyists picked up on a state senate bill that would have eliminated 98 percent of what the industry grows, labeling then non-drought tolerant. The bill moved through two committees quickly and quietly, until a  lobbyist picked up on it and was able to kill it at the Governor's desk.

"We need a larger voice, a partner outside the industry, and one with the political clout that comes with money," Thomas says. "We need to speak with a larger voice."

Recommended Drought Tolerant Plants?
Thomas says the official Georgia policy is not to support a list of recommended drought tolerant plants, because the research just isn't conclusive on the subject. Research has been done my Marc van Iersel on how to save water in the greenhouse, but outdoor production research isn't complete. And how do you measure outside water use during a drought?

The right approach, Thomas says, is to formulate best management practices for plants, so that everything survives.

"If you drive that, then plants will do fine," he says. "Keep the focus on education."