USDA’s 2014 Floriculture Crops Summary By The Numbers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 2014 Floriculture Crops Summary in June. Here are some of the highlights:

• The total crop value at wholesale for the 15-state program with $10,000 or more in sales is $4.07 billion, compared with $4.25 billion in 2013
• The percentage wholesale value of floriculture crops is down 4 percent from the 2013 valuation
• There are 4,849 producers for 2014, down 21 percent in the 15 states, compared with the 2013 count of 6,115
• 2,510 of producers had sales of $100,000 or more in 2014, down 5 percent from 2,632 in 2013
• 733 million square feet was the total covered area for floriculture crop production in 15 state area evaluated in 2014, down from 735 million square feet in 2013
• $1.82 billion was the wholesale value of all bedding and garden plants, including herbaceous perennials, representing 46 percent of the value of all reported crops
• The wholesale value for annual bedding and garden plants was $1.26 billion, down 2 percent from 2013; representing 69 percent of total bedding and garden category
• The value for potted flowering plants for indoor or patio uses was $788 million, up 2 percent from 2013
• The value of 2014 foliage plant sales was $599 million, down 2 percent from 2013
• The wholesale value of domestically produced cut flowers in 2014 was $354 million, down 3 percent from 2013
• The wholesale value of cut cultivated greens in 2014 was $72 million, down 5 percent from 2013
• The total value of sales of propagation material, including annuals, potted herbaceous perennials, potted flowering plants, foliage plants, cut flowers and cut cultivated greens is $341 million; down 14 percent from 2013
• The average peak number of hired workers employed on operations in the 15-state area in 2014 was 22.
• 3,761 operations hired workers during 2014
• 78 percent of operations used hired labor during 2014