How Plant Certification Can Help You Address Critical Greenhouse Problems
January 12, 2021 
Greenhouse Grower’s January 2021 cover story featured a closer look at the Systems Approach to Nursery Certification (SANC) program, and why two of the industry’s leading ornamentals operations entered the SANC program, what they had to do to get certified, and what they learned along the way.
One thing we learned was not only does certification in programs like SANC improve your crop quality and pest management programs, it can also help you solve problems. Maddie Maynor, Greenhouse Production Coordinator at North Creek Nurseries in Pennsylvania, outlines how SANC plant certification has served as a problem-solving tool at North Creek.
Has SANC changed your production practices?
Yes. Prior to SANC, we had Standard Work Documents created for a multitude of processes at the nursery. SANC forced us to look at each of processes through a new lens. This prompted us to revamp and redesign some processes; new standards were created as well. Through SANC, we were able to seamlessly tie all the processes throughout the nursery together creating a continuous flow for plants, from start to finish. We purchased a tray washing machine so we could clean/sanitize and reuse trays. We created a standard for washing benches to ensure plants were placed on clean surfaces for growing. We also looked at our new scouting procedure for incoming plant material, how we clean greenhouse and our scouting and spray program.
How has SANC helped solve a problem during your production practice?
With the SANC mindset of creating check points, we adjusted our scouting technique for incoming plant materials. We equipped our receiving team with a hand lens, microscope, and pest identification cards. Each shipment is given a thorough scout. All shipment issues are documented with pictures and a write up. By adjusting our scouting for incoming material, we were able to find issues prior to them entering production. Prior to certification, we would plant these issues then end up throwing out the plants, tray, and soil, plus the wasted labor to get the plant to that point. Now we don’t plant if pests are found or quality doesn’t meet our standards. Our brokers and suppliers are notified of all issues found. By being so quality driven, we have saved more than $35,000 in credits since starting this process. If we receive a shipment and a treatable pest is found, we will charge the suppliers with a “treatment fee” that is calculated by what it cost for us to treat the pest, labor, and chemical use. Since fine-tuning this process, we have seen a shift in communication and increased quality from our suppliers, allowing us to produce higher quality plants from the start.
How has SANC helped your employees during the production practice?
Our company is very goal driven, so SANC is another component of the nursery where we are striving to do our very best for ourselves and our customer. Our staff is very aware of their role and importance of SANC. I often get questions and statements like “Is this process SANC certified?” or “We must do it this way to be SANC compliant.” The growers are taking ownership of their houses and also becoming more hypersensitive to crop issues and how they can fix them.
Has SANC helped your facility become better organized, or helped develop organization structure?
Having SANC roles clearly defined allows everyone to know how they can contribute to SANC compliance. If a failure occurs, we can easily trace it back and find where we need to invest in more tools or better training.
Has SANC helped them see aspects they were overlooking?
We are at the point where we are fine tuning details and dialing in processes with great precision. Staff are noticing minuscule details that were overlooked before. Managers and crews are developing solutions that hold up long-term through the seasons verses quick fixes that often get abandoned. The entire team is producing higher quality crops with commitment and ownership of their work.
Click here for more information on the SANC program.
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