Greenhouse Resilience in 2027: Managing Operational Risk

Greenhouse operators are heading into 2027 with less room for disruption. Labor costs, tariffs, fuel, freight, fertilizer, and broader inflationary pressures are squeezing margins. At the same time, growers still need to keep crops on schedule, maintain facilities, support employees, and meet customer commitments.

This environment is making long-range planning more difficult, according to a recent survey by Wakefield Research for Sentry® Insurance:

• 82% of executives say events during the first half of 2026 have made them more concerned about their businesses’ futures
• 98% say events have influenced long-term planning and risk management
• 70% are planning in shorter intervals
• 61% are building more contingencies into their plans

In greenhouse risk management, contingencies matter because problems rarely stay isolated. A disruption in one part of the business can quickly affect production, employees, customers, and financial performance. A labor shortage can put more pressure on employees, increasing the potential for mistakes, injuries, or quality issues. A power interruption can affect environmental controls and inventory. A delayed replacement part can extend the disruption and put customer commitments at risk.

In the face of ongoing, interconnected risks, operational resilience is critical. Greenhouse leaders must recognize and prepare for these linked threats so their businesses can respond quickly, limit disruption, and keep production moving.

Three areas illustrate what that looks like in practice.

1. Labor Pressures Can Increase Greenhouse Operational Risk

Labor is one of the clearest examples of interconnected risk in a greenhouse business. According to AmericanHort’s chief economist Charlie Hall, labor represents an average of 44% of industry costs, making workforce pressures both an operational and financial concern.

Sentry’s midyear survey found that 49% of executives identify labor shortages as a top threat, up from 38% in January. Since the beginning of the year, 87% have asked employees to work longer hours or take fewer breaks. Executives report consequences including more errors or lower-quality work, decreased employee satisfaction, difficulty hiring, higher turnover, and more injuries and near misses.

Consider what that can mean during peak season. Shipping employees may be working longer hours while newer workers move into unfamiliar tasks to keep production moving. Supervisors may be trying to maintain quality while also training employees and covering staffing shortages.

A staffing challenge can quickly become a challenge linked to safety, crop quality, retention, and customer service.

Operational resilience requires more than filling staffing gaps during a shift. Cross-training can give businesses more flexibility during peak periods, while task-specific safety training and adequate supervision can help employees step into different responsibilities safely. Greenhouse leaders can also identify where critical knowledge is concentrated and create opportunities to transfer it.

Conversations with your agent, broker, or greenhouse insurance advisor can add another perspective, including reviewing workers’ compensation trends and identifying safety resources that may help address emerging concerns.

2. Critical Greenhouse Systems Need Contingency Planning

Greenhouse production depends on multiple systems working together. Heat, power, irrigation, environmental controls, monitoring technology, automation, and other connected systems all support the growing environment.

With margins already under pressure from tariffs, freight, fuel, fertilizer prices, and inflation, there may be less financial and operational room to absorb a prolonged interruption.

Weather demonstrates how quickly problems can compound. Only 30% of executives in Sentry’s midyear survey rank natural catastrophes among their top five business threats, yet 52% fear the next severe weather event or catastrophe could end their business. Supply chain and logistics challenges are the top midyear concern, cited by 62% of executives.

Those risks can also intersect. A winter storm, for example, could interrupt power to a greenhouse. The backup generator starts but cannot support every critical system. An alarm response is delayed, allowing temperatures to drift. Then a replacement component is needed, but transportation delays mean the part doesn’t arrive as quickly as expected.

What began as a power interruption has become a production problem affecting crops, inventory, labor, and customer commitments.

Contingency planning should therefore consider how the entire operation functions during a disruption, not simply whether backup equipment exists. Backup power should be tested under realistic conditions with clear priorities for which systems receive power first. Employees should know who responds to alarms, what happens if automated systems become unavailable, and how critical functions will be handled manually.

Talking with your greenhouse insurance advisors can help examine property values, business interruption assumptions, vendor dependencies, and whether existing coverage reflects how the operation functions today.

3. Informal Processes Can Create Safety, Compliance, and Liability Risks

Many greenhouse businesses rely heavily on the experience and institutional knowledge of their employees and managers. As operations grow more complex, however, informal practices can create vulnerabilities.

Sentry’s survey found that 82% of C-suite executives say regulations are changing too quickly to keep up, increasing concerns about compliance failures and litigation exposure.

The issue can show up in seemingly routine parts of an operation. Safety training may have occurred, but records don’t show who completed it. Forklift, ladder, chemical, or heat-safety practices may differ depending on the supervisor or location. Driver files, motor vehicle record checks, or vehicle maintenance logs may be incomplete. A manager may know exactly how a critical task should be performed but have never documented the procedure.

These inconsistencies can affect everyday operations, but their significance may become much greater after something goes wrong. Following an employee injury, vehicle accident, or other incident, incomplete records and inconsistent procedures can make it harder to demonstrate the steps the business took to manage risk. They also may create litigation vulnerabilities, making it easier for outside parties to challenge the business’s safety practices and response.

Clear documentation, consistent training, written procedures, and defined responsibilities make operations more repeatable. They also support knowledge transfer when experienced employees leave or new leaders take on responsibilities. As operations change — new vehicles, expanded facilities, different production processes, or new technology — greenhouse leaders should also consider whether those changes warrant a broader risk management and insurance review, since each can affect safety, fleet, property, liability, and other exposures.

Building Greenhouse Resilience Before Disruption Happens

Greenhouse operators can’t control every source of disruption, but they can strengthen how their business responds.

Asking strategic questions now can help. Here are five questions to ask before 2027:

• How could a labor shortage increase injury, quality, or customer-service risks? How are we working within our means to retain employees, and are we preparing them through cross-training, safety efforts, and knowledge transfer?
• Are employee training records, fleet and vehicle files, and safety procedures documented consistently?
• Which systems are most critical to keeping crops on schedule?
• Have backup power and alarm-response plans been tested under realistic conditions?
• Has the business recently reviewed its insurance coverage and risk exposures to make sure they reflect how the operation functions today? Some key insurance programs to review include: business interruption, workers’ compensation, property, liability, and cyber.

Cross-training employees, planning for critical-system failures, documenting repeatable processes, and regularly reviewing changing exposures can help keep problems contained rather than allowing them to spread across the operation. A greenhouse insurance advisor can help identify vulnerabilities, evaluate how operational changes may affect coverage, and support greenhouse business continuity planning.

Heading into 2027, the goal is to preserve as much continuity as possible when conditions change — supporting employee safety, keeping crops on schedule, and maintaining customer commitments.