Is There Actually a Seed Shortage?
March 24, 2021 Home gardening boomed in 2020, and 80% of the people that took up gardening during this time plan to regrow this season.
During the National Garden Bureau SeedFacts virtual discussion panel held in February, a question was brought up regarding whether or not there was an actual seed shortage.
The Seed Shortage Misnomer
A perceived seed shortage is occurring as a result of high demand. However, there are many alternative seed varieties available to growers.
“The seed shortage is more of a misnomer,” says Nathan Zondag, Vice President of Operations at Jung Seed Company. “It’s not much of a seed shortage. Of the roughly 2,400 varieties of seed that we’re selling currently, there are only 83 [varieties] that are out of stock. It’s just an issue of getting the packets filled for the customers in adequate time.”
The Real Issue Is Labor
While COVID-19 brought many customers to retailers, it took away many workers from the seed packing plants.
“For us at Harris, [the number one issue] is labor,” says Marissa Verdi, Vice President of Harris Seeds. “You talk about COVID and human health, anytime anyone even has a sniffle, we go into hyper alert.”
These protocols cause fewer people to be able to work should a case or COVID scare occur. This has led to fewer seed packets being filled in a day.
“It is just how you balance that human health aspect,” Verdi says. “In that regard, you are talking about increased demand and product in something that can still be labor intensive, even if you do have automated machinery.”
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