Greenhouse Grower Top 100 Growers: The 2013 List

Top 100 Logo 2013 with sponsorIt’s not necessarily an indication of a top-to-bottom trend in the horticulture industry, but one thing is clear from the results of the 2013 Greenhouse Grower Top 100 Grower survey: The largest greenhouse operations in the U.S are getting larger.
Perhaps it’s a sign of things turning around after several years of a stagnant economy and an evolving customer base.

Maybe the greenhouse industry is just continuing a shakeout, with the largest operations absorbing the production and space of growers who are leaving the market.

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Could be it’s simply the big continuing to get bigger to take advantage of the production efficiencies size can offer big retail customers and the growers’ own bottom lines.

It’s likely some combination of all three.

Whatever the reason, nearly a third of the growers in Greenhouse Grower’s 2013 Top 100 survey reported growth. Some of them significantly so.

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Ups And Downs

Greenhouse Grower’s annual Top 100 List, sponsored in 2013 by Becker Underwood,  ranks the largest greenhouse producers in the country by total square feet of  environmentally controlled greenhouse space.

Some of the biggest movers this year included:

● Altman Plants is now reporting 7,339,542 square feet — primarily new construction —  up from just over 6 million on last year’s list.

● Bell Nursery USA, now reporting 6.1 million square feet, moved from number 11 in 2012 to number 6 this year.

● Floral Plant Growers purchased Top 100 Grower Hiebert Greenhouses and added 700,000 square feet.

● Northwest Horticulture, Richardson Brothers Greenhouses and Smith Gardens each reported adding at least 300,000 square feet of space.

Not everyone on the list grew, of course. In total, however, fewer than a dozen operations on this year’s list reported any kind of significant decrease in acreage from 2012. Speedling and Westland Flower Company each reported tightening production space by at least 300,000 square feet. Hines Growers, Inc., formerly Hines Nurseries, has shed significant greenhouse square footage in recent years, but ownership has indicated plans to begin adding acreage again soon.

In total, the 2013 Top 100 Growers represent 215,718,554 square feet of environmentally controlled greenhouse space — that’s just shy of 5,000 acres as a group, and a year-over-year increase of nearly 3.4 million square feet.

Comings And Goings

Three operations moved out of the Top 100 rankings this year. Elzinga & Hoeksema fell to financial troubles and closed its doors. Hiebert Greenhouses, as mentioned, sold its business to Floral Plant Growers. Gallup & Stribling Orchids, one of Greenhouse Grower’s original Top 50 Growers back in 1987, just missed the list after consecutive years of shedding significant acreage.

Three new names made their way into this year’s Top 100. Color Point, in Paris, Ky., Plainview Growers in Pompton Plains, N.J., and Grolink Plant Co. in Oxnard, Calif., all were unranked in 2012. Color Point, in particular, rode several years of growth to an impressive Top 100 debut this year, jumping onto the list at number 75 with 1,000,000 square feet.

The 2013 Greenhouse Grower Top 100 Grower List

*=estimated
2013 Rank 2012 Rank Name of Operation State 2013 Total
Sq. Ft.
2012 Total
Sq. Ft.
1 1 Color Spot Nurseries CA 16,400,000 16,200,000
2 2 Kurt Weiss Greenhouses NY 9,774,020 * 12,146,020
3 3 Rocket Farms CA 8,305,120 8,305,180
4 5 Altman Plants CA 7,339,542 6,010,603
5 4 Costa Farms FL 6,207,300 6,417,102
6 11 Bell Nursery USA MD 6,100,000 * 4,212,480
7 6 Metrolina Greenhouses NC 5,900,000 5,850,000
8 7 Ecke Ranch CA * 5,600,000 * 5,600,000
9 8 Color Star Growers CO 5,000,000 5,000,000
10 10 Green Circle Growers OH 4,573,800 4,704,480
11 11 Aris Horticulture OH 4,352,080 4,352,080
12 13 The Sun Valley Group CA * 4,000,000 4,000,000
13 14 Delray Plants Co. FL 3,868,116 3,868,116
14 16 Milgro Nursery UT 3,500,000 3,500,000
15 15 Speedling FL 3,490,000 3,850,000
16 17 Matsui Nursery CA 3,438,000 3,438,000
17 18 Hermann Engelmann Greenhouses FL 3,300,000 3,300,000
18 19 Ivy Acres NY 3,253,290 3,253,290
19 20 Mid-American Growers IL 3,200,000 3,200,000
20 21 Kerry’s Bromeliads FL 3,100,000 3,100,000
21 22 Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas OR 2,850,000 2,850,000
22 26 Floral Plant Growers WI 2,826,360 2,103,105
23 23 Dallas Johnson Greenhouses IA 2,700,000 * 2,700,000
24 24 Bay City Flowers CA * 2,500,000 2,500,000
25 28 Smith Gardens WA 2,350,000 1,900,000
26 27 N.G. Heimos Greenhouses IL 2,127,200 2,084,000
27 25 Tagawa Greenhouse Enterprises CO 2,119,904 * 2,119,904
28 34 Northwest Horticulture WA 2,090,880 1,698,840
29 29 Wenke Greenhouses MI 1,829,520 1,829,520
30 30 Dan Schantz Farm PA 1,814,381 1,814,381
31 31 Barcelo Enterprises CA 1,800,000 * 1,800,000
32 40 Colorama Wholesale Nursery CA 1,791,500 1,530,000
33 32 Battlefield Farms VA 1,785,960 1,785,960
34 36 Plant Marketing WI 1,778,000 1,616,400
35 33 Valley Flowers CA 1,740,000 1,740,000
36 9 Hines Growers, Inc. CA 1,700,000 8 4,834,000
37 39 Young’s Plant Farm AL 1,645,000 1,580,000
38 37 Ocean Breeze International CA 1,614,000 1,614,000
39 38 Bergen’s Greenhouses MN 1,611,720 * 1,611,720
40 41 Post Gardens MI 1,527,000 1,527,000
41 42 Clearwater Nursery CA 1,525,000 * 1,525,000
42 79 Dewar Nurseries FL 1,517,385 * 971,600
43 51 Olson’s Greenhouse Gardens UT 1,515,141 1,360,840
44 43 Garden State Growers NJ 1,502,820 1,502,820
45 44 DeLeon’s Bromeliads FL 1,500,939 1,500,939
46 45t Kawahara Nurseries CA * 1,500,000 * 1,500,000
47 47 Dan & Jerry’s Greenhouse MN 1,445,000 * 1,445,000
48 48 Willoway Nurseries OH 1,418,340 1,418,340
49t 54 Kitayama Brothers CA 1,400,000 1,314,000
49t 49 Panzer Nursery OR 1,400,000 1,400,000
49t 45t Van Wingerden International NC 1,400,000 1,500,000
52 62 Nash Greenhouses MI 1,345,000 1,132,000
53 57 Heartland Growers IN 1,320,000 1,268,360
54 53 Aldershot of New Mexico NM * 1,317,000 1,317,000
55 35 Westland Floral Company CA 1,313,280 1,677,060
56t 55t Bailey Nurseries MN 1,306,800 1,306,800
56t 55t Four Star Greenhouses MI 1,306,800 1,306,800
58 58 Rockwell Farms NC 1,260,000 1,220,000
59t 83 Richardson Brothers Greenhouses IL 1,200,000 892,980
59t 59 Young’s Nursery & Greenhouses TN 1,200,000 1,200,000
61t 60 Pacifica Flowers CA 1,176,120 1,176,120
61t 81 Plants Unlimited MI 1,176,120 900,000
63 67 Dramm & Echter CA 1,125,000 1,085,000
64 68 Riverview Flower Farm FL 1,113,520 1,078,656
65t 52 Henry Mast Greenhouses/Masterpiece Flower Co. MI 1,100,000 1,100,000
65t 63 Hillister Farms TX 1,100,000 1,100,000
67 65 Lucas Greenhouses NJ 1,095,576 1,095,576
68 69 Sawyer Nursery MI 1,059,076 * 1,059,076
69 71 Armstrong Growers CA 1,048,000 1,044,344
70 70 Alex R. Masson KS * 1,045,440 1,045,440
71 61 Stacy’s Greenhouses SC 1,045,000 1,150,000
72 72 Johannes Flowers CA 1,043,360 * 1,043,360
73 73 Van de Wetering Greenhouses NY 1,040,000 1,040,000
74 75 Maria Gardens Greenhouses OH 1,001,820 1,001,820
75t 64 Bob’s Market & Greenhouses WV 1,000,000 1,096,360
75t NR Color Point KY 1,000,000 NR
75t 77t Kent’s Bromeliad Nursery CA 1,000,000 1,000,000
75t 77t Welby Gardens Co./Hardy Boy Plants-Hardystarts CO 1,000,000 1,000,000
79 89 Grower Direct Farms CT 980,000 816,000
80 74 Farmers’ West Flowers & Bouquets CA 958,320 1,004,000
81 80 Harts Nursery OR 940,000 940,000
82 92 Cuthbert Greenhouse OH 912,680 782,000
83 82 Petitti Garden Center (Casa Verde) OH 895,000 895,000
84 84 White’s Nursery & Greenhouses VA 860,000 860,000
85 85 Twixwood Nursery MI 851,000 851,000
86t 86t B And H Flowers CA 850,000 850,000
86t 86t Blue Ridge Growers VA 850,000 850,000
86t 88 Kube-Pak NJ 850,000 845,000
89 90 South Central Growers TN 801,500 * 800,000
90 91 American Color VA 784,700 784,700
91 93 Olive Hill Greenhouses CA 760,000 760,000
92t 94 California Pajarosa CA 750,000 750,000
92t NR Plainview Growers NJ 750,000 NR
94 95 Myriad Flowers International CA 740,520 * 740,520
95 96 Esbenshades Greenhouse PA 740,000 740,000
96 97 Corso’s Perennials OH 732,000 705,000
97t NR Grolink Plant Company CA 700,000 NR
97t 98 Knox Nursery FL 700,000 700,000
99 99 Parks Brothers Farm AR 675,000 677,000
100 100 Sedan Floral KS 672,604 661,804

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Leave a Reply

Avatar for Eric Rohloff Eric Rohloff says:

Total sqft doesn't tell you anything about efficiency. Like to see total sales compared to total sqft and see who comes out on top.

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Avatar for OK OK says:

How about sales and percentage profitability ranking?

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Avatar for Terry Higgins Terry Higgins says:

Looking at the total square ft of production in the top 100, what % of the total production area does this represent?

Avatar for Laura Drotleff Laura Drotleff says:

Terry,
Let me look that up. Thanks for asking!
Laura

Avatar for GUPTA, SAT PARKASH GUPTA, SAT PARKASH says:

2G GREENHOUSE TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES
INNOVATIVE USE OF COMPRESSOR TOGETHER WITH CAPTURE AND RELEASE MANIFOLDS TO OFFER COST EFFECTIVE TANGIBLE SOLUTION OF THE GREATEST PROBLEMS OF 1G GH.

Problem Solved by the Technology
Please describe the problem that the technology embodied by the patent(s) is designed to solve. Or explain what the technology is capable of doing that cannot be achieved by other means.
INCREASING IN 1G GH
a. PLANT DENSITY BY ATLEAST FOUR FOLDS
b. PRODUCTIVITY BY ATLEAST THREE FOLDS
c. LEADING TO MUCH HIGHER OPERATING PROFIT.
Equipments
GH provisioned with a temp sensor, a RH sensor, a CO2 sensor & a solar radiation sensor,

1#Compressor (C) of adequate delivery volume & pressure to service defined GH floor area together with Capture manifold (CM), Release manifold (RM)
Events of CM & RM are provisioned concurrent
2# Steel lagged tanks TC & TO of pressure equal to Compressor delivery pressure and each of adequate volume to service defined GH floor area and locations’ dark & sunlight hours annual average duration:

TC stores and dehumidify CO2 rich compressed GH air of dark hours

TO stores and dehumidify O2 rich compressed GH air of sunlight hours

So far no option to releasing GH CO2 into atmosphere which aggravates Global warming and incurs heavy cost of carbon credits purchase.
In 2G GH when GH CO2 PPM more than atmosphere PPM (except during CO2 fertigation events) GH CO2 sensor triggers-on C,CM,RM events
CM captured CO2 rich GH air of dark hours is compressed and stored in TC, GH RH sensor triggers-on TC moisture drain off valve to drain off moisture content for optimal dehumidification or drains off total moisture content, maintaining 0% RH in TC.
RM released CO2 rich dehumidified GH air during sunlight hours at cultivation level flushes out GH stale air from cultivation level to above plants. Creates multiple combinations of horizontal and vertical flows and circulation cycles around plants for uniform mixing of released GH air with GH existing air to maintain, GH air uniform RH and uniform temp, at defined precise set points,
Thus ABHORTING GH CO2 TRADITIONAL RELEASE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE & INSTEAD UTILIZING DARK HOURS GH CO2 FOR FERTIGATION DURING SUNLIGHT HOURS. AMELIORATING GLOBAL WARMING AND GENERATING SUBSTANTIAL REVENUE BY SELLING CARBON CREDITS
Crops in GH at all locations enjoy uniform GH air RH and temp environment.
No horizontal and/or vertical gradients (non-uniformity) in GH air RH, temp & CO2 ppm (during sunlight hours CO2 fertigation events): No hot and/or cold pockets No problem plants’ own moisture production (transpiration) driven by leaf temp and VPD. No need Horizontal air fans which are run continuously to improve GH air RH & temp uniformity saving their capital and operating heavy cost.
Release of CO2 rich GH air is quickly taken up plants’ leaves. Similar treatment of CO2 for fertigation saving very substantial cost of wastage of CO2 in 1G GH.
Thus a substantial part of the Commercial CO2 used for fertigation wastage which can be saved together with carbon credit purchase.
Furthermore CO2 fertigation is possible even in hot locations because of NO VENTS.
*****
RM to release O2 rich dehumidified GH air during dark hours to serve Plants’ dire need for O2 rich environment to Freshen up and Rejuvenate by taking up O2 and releasing CO2.
Plants’ health, Tugar, Vigor and strong immune system maximizes Plants’ tolerance to disease organisms, bacteria, pathogens, fungi, viral infection, harmful insect, pests.
*****
I have buit 5000 m2 (3 bay ) 2G structured GH which is being automated, in a small portion of which I had planted 2 stem bell peppers 12# (twelve) plants / m2
Sole purpose: Potential licensee can realize real time benefits by watching the attached video of this facility. Since so far environment control and some other facilities were/are not in place so that in the video plants may not be looking as they should be. All the same BENEFIT OF MECHANICAL AIR CIRCULATION AROUND THE PLANTS :
IN 1G GH 2-3 STEM TOMATO or 2 STEM BELL PEPPER: ~2.5 PLANTS / M2, to PROVIDE ENOUGH SPACE FOR NATURAL AIR CIRCULATION AROUND THE PLANTS.
WHEREAS IN 2G GH 2-3 STEM TOMATO OR 2 STEM BELL PEPPER AT LEAST 12# (TWELVE) PLANTS / M2 BECAUSE AIR CIRCULATION AROUND THE PLANTS IS MECHANIZED PLANTS’ LEAVES MOVING VERY GENTLY CAN BE REALIZED
JUST ENVISION THE FANTASTIC VALUE ADDITIONAL & COST BENEFIT RATIO:
Atleast four fold increase in plant density,
Atleast three fold increase in productivity
Leading to much higher operating profit.
Video shows still enough room to increase plant density to at least: 15# (fifteen) plants /m2.
Added benefit plants very dense canopy intercepts incoming sunlight energy and offers many other related benefits.

Also during pollination hours RM release pressure is increased which secures 100% pollination leading to much higher productivity which is almost impossible in traditional methods: vibrating the plants.
Similar benefits for other plants similar to tomato and bell pepper plants.

*****
Maintaining GH air RH at defined precise set point (~75% or lower or higher)
When GH air RH is more than defined precise set point GH RH sensor triggers-on C,CM,RM events
CM captured CO2 rich humid GH air of dark hours is compressed and stored in TC, GH RH sensor triggers-on TC moisture drain off valve to drain off total moisture content maintaining 0% RH in TC.
Simlar treatment of TO storing compressed O2 rich humid GH air of sunlight hours.
when GH air RH equals defined precise set point GH RH sensor trigger-off C,CM & RM events.
Transpiration being directly linked to productivity
GH RH is gradually brought down till max. Transpiration is achieved.

Maintaining GH air temp at defined precise set point ( ~68F or lower or higher)
Treatment almost similar to maintaining GH air RH at defined precise set point except when temp defined set point is achieved , if RH is too much less, GH RH sensor trigger on foggers. When GH RH equals defined precise set point, GH RH sensor trigger off C,CM & RM events.

Primary Commercial Application
Identify the primary target market & how the technology is productized or otherwise delivered to customers:
2G technology facilities can be easily retrofitted in 1G GHS without effecting existing facilities and operations. Thus offers fantastic value addition and cost benefit ratio, having worldover unlimited potential
*****
Kindly advise your valuable comments.
Kindly advise your email Id so that we can send you the video.