Poll: Majority Struggling To Access Peat

After the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA) announced last week that the peat supply in Eastern Canada will be 15 to 30 percent of historically targeted requirements, Greenhouse Grower polled its readers about whether or not they’re struggling to access peat for next spring.

A GreenhouseGrower.com poll last week indicates more than half of all growers are having a more difficult time than usual accessing the amount of peat they need for next spring. Our poll question was: Are you having a more difficult time than usual accessing the amount of peat you need for next spring. Of the 27 growers who responded, 14 (52 percent) indicate they are struggling to find peat. Thirty-seven percent say they are not struggling to find the amount of peat needed for next spring while 11 percent say they haven’t started to pursue 2012 peat yet.

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”We’re going through it right now,” Roy den Hollander, an owner of Garden State Growers, told Greenhouse Grower two weeks ago. “We’re ordering additional peat wherever we can get it. We’ve branched out to other peat moss suppliers. We’re bringing in peat from Europe because we’re seeing a problem.”

Den Hollander  indicates his head grower, Noah Schwartz, is trialing different growing mediums to give Garden State as many options as possible. Den Hollander also says talk of a shortage is not unusual for the peat industry.

“Every year they’re saying there’s a shortage and the price needs to go up,” he says. “This year, I think it’s actually coming to fruition.”

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