It’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.
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.
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 |
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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How about sales and percentage profitability ranking?
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Looking at the total square ft of production in the top 100, what % of the total production area does this represent?
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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.