S-290 Regional Project

Minutes of the 2002 Summer Meeting
S-290 Technical Committee
July 12, 2002

Buffalo, NY

Members present: Sue Barton, Bridget Behe, John Brooker, Charlie Hall, Richard Harkass, Robert McNiel, Wen-fei Uva. Special guest: Marty Sailus, Director of NRAES.

Chairman Behe called the meeting to order.

Robert McNiel was congratulated on a stellar tour and Niagra Falls dinner excursion. The tour stops consisted of J.C. Bakker & Sons Limited, Bayview Flowers, Epic Plant Company, and Westbrook Floral.

Dave Beattie send his regards and his appreciation to the group for the card received.

Motion was passed to approve the minutes of the last meeting.

CSREES representative comments:
Dave Holder shared electronic comments applauding the S290 committee's historic productivity; provided an update regarding CSREES current budget situation and outlook; pertinent farm bill programs that may be of interest to the group (including IFAFS funding, the Organic Agricultural Research and Extension Initiative, the Rural Electronic Commerce Extension Program, and the Agriculture Innovation Demonstration Program - for more information, see the USDA farm bill website).

Administrative advisor comments:
D.C. Coston had a conflict, but sends his regards and also applauded the S290 committee's historic productivity.

Manuscript reports:

Container nursery, field production nursery, and landscape cost manuscripts - McNiel reported that these manuscripts are at an advanced stage. A hacker shut the server down at UKY during this year, so progress on some documents was delayed. The text for the field publication is on the website (www.rs.uky.edu/beta/intro). Hall, Hodges, and Behe have agreed to take a look at the site to review it. Hall agreed to develop an introductory html page.

Greenhouse manuscript: Hall reported that the greenhouse manuscript is on-line at the following internet address: http://www.utextension.utk.edu/hbin/SCSBgreenhouse.htm. The NRAES version is in the review process, which should be complete by mid-September.

Marty Sailus, NRAES Director, provided an overview of NRAES programs and goals. Marty talked about NRAES publishing guidelines and peer review process.

He also indicated that the Garden Center manuscript should be available in mid-September. It has been reviewed and Sue should get a copy in mid to late August to approve. A complimentary copy will be sent to S290 members to provide an overview of the publication and how to order additional copies.

(Marty also brought several NRAES publications to demonstrate to the group, which he provided free of charge to members after the meeting...thanks again Marty!)

Perennial manuscript: no report from Beattie.

Pot-in-pot study: Hall reported that Haydu and Hall have generated a manuscript, but they are still in the final editing stage. The document should be ready for internal review shortly.

Behe reported that the Dogwood study has been edited down to a JEH article submission. The study was also reported on at SNA by Brooker last year.

Progress on current studies:

Behe reported that the JEH manuscript regarding the HRI landscape project is in the final stages. By the end of the summer, a copy should be sent to the authors. The first stage of the study, which did not receive many responses, will be included as a minor part of the JEH manuscript.

Price study: McNiel and Beattie have evaluated (and are continuing to evaluate) a collection of nursery price catalogues held by the Cornell library. This collection goes back about 100 years, covers 10 to 12 firms, and in some cases documents the same nursery over a large portion of that time. McNeil has this information on electronic images and has created a data set for Monrovia nursery. Quantity data is not available. Some ideas for use of this data set include comparison of nominal and real prices, negotiated versus catalogue prices, and others. Beattie is creating a data set on perennials. Brooker, van Blokland and Brumfieldagreed at the last meeting to also work on this project (see previous minutes). It was decided that a subcommittee meeting will be held at the winter 2003 meeting.

Specialty cut flower budgets - Brumfield reported at the last meeting that not much progress has been made. However the Risk Management Agency is very interested, and opportunities for funding through that agency and other sources was discussed. While no update was provided at this meeting, Haydu, Hodges, van Blokland and Kelly agreed to assist on this project and a subcommittee meeting will be held at the winter 2003 meeting.

Poinsettia preferences - Behe reported that a draft of a HortTechnology type of article has been developed. A decision will be made soon as to whether to send it to HortScience first.

Business analysis - At the last meeting, Haydu and Hodges reported on an ongoing nursery business analysis program at UFL that provides financial and efficiency benchmarks for Florida firms. They proposed that this be expanded to other states. Uva’s reported to the group that a grant proposal tp do some regional analyses (submitted earlier in the year) was not funded, but the search for funding continues. This effort would be a coordinated effort to extend this program to growers in other states. Data would be standard across states and consistently collected. There is a void on information that permits growers to compare themselves to other growers. Potential participants and funding sources were discussed. It was suggested that a "training" session be conducted at the next project meeting to illustrate how the program operates and the requirements other states will need to meet in order to participate in a regional effort. Uva distributed copies of the NY greenhouse business analysis report, and Behe and Hall agreed to review and provide feedback (Uva will send the data collection form to each). Uva also reported that a RMA grant project is underway to convert the data collection instrument to a web-based format. She has 50 growers lined up for this years analysis.

Terms of trade - Hinson reported that he has been collecting information about changes in the terms and condiditons of sale imposed on growers by large retail firms. He has a mail survey in progress, which will probably be supplemented with case study interviews. No results to report at this time.

Future studies:

Oregon State faculty member is interested in joining S290.

Roger proposed a project to do work analogous to that done by Cornell University regarding the produce industry This work is entitled "FreshTrack" and is sponsored by PMA (see the FreshTrack industry studies at PMA's website at http://www.pma.com/ii/products.cfm). Wen-fei, Charlie, and Brooker agreed to put some thought into potential funding sources.

Sue Barton will be doing a public opinion survey designed to measure people's preferences for roadside vegetation, environmental impacts of alternative vegetation schemes, and economic impacts associated with roadside vegetation alternatives. Bridget reported that firm called Survey Sampling has a mechanism to measure consumer preferences from a national panel. Sue would like to solicit information that other members that may have ideas regarding survey structure and methodology.

Website management issue - a discussion was held regarding the administrative requirements for maintenance and oversight of the S290 website. More feedback from our administrative advisor is expected in the near future.

Future meeting dates:

Winter 2003 New Orleans (Feb 13-15 or March 6-8)
Summer 2003 - Montreal or Ashville, NC (Bridget will call PJ about a possible AAEA symposium and Charlie will check details regarding an Ashville meeting)

Respectfully submitted,

Charlie Hall (filling in for Roger A. Hinson)



Home Project Statement Project Participants Annual Reports Meeting Minutes Resources		Minutes of the 2002 Summer Meeting S-290 Technical Committee July 12, 2002 Buffalo, NY Members present: Sue Barton, Bridget Behe, John Brooker, Charlie Hall, Richard Harkass, Robert McNiel, Wen-fei Uva. Special guest: Marty Sailus, Director of NRAES. Chairman Behe called the meeting to order. Robert McNiel was congratulated on a stellar tour and Niagra Falls dinner excursion. The tour stops consisted of J.C. Bakker & Sons Limited, Bayview Flowers, Epic Plant Company, and Westbrook Floral. Dave Beattie send his regards and his appreciation to the group for the card received. Motion was passed to approve the minutes of the last meeting. CSREES representative comments: Dave Holder shared electronic comments applauding the S290 committee's historic productivity; provided an update regarding CSREES current budget situation and outlook; pertinent farm bill programs that may be of interest to the group (including IFAFS funding, the Organic Agricultural Research and Extension Initiative, the Rural Electronic Commerce Extension Program, and the Agriculture Innovation Demonstration Program - for more information, see the USDA farm bill website). Administrative advisor comments: D.C. Coston had a conflict, but sends his regards and also applauded the S290 committee's historic productivity. Manuscript reports: Container nursery, field production nursery, and landscape cost manuscripts - McNiel reported that these manuscripts are at an advanced stage. A hacker shut the server down at UKY during this year, so progress on some documents was delayed. The text for the field publication is on the website (www.rs.uky.edu/beta/intro). Hall, Hodges, and Behe have agreed to take a look at the site to review it. Hall agreed to develop an introductory html page. Greenhouse manuscript: Hall reported that the greenhouse manuscript is on-line at the following internet address: http://www.utextension.utk.edu/hbin/SCSBgreenhouse.htm. The NRAES version is in the review process, which should be complete by mid-September. Marty Sailus, NRAES Director, provided an overview of NRAES programs and goals. Marty talked about NRAES publishing guidelines and peer review process. He also indicated that the Garden Center manuscript should be available in mid-September. It has been reviewed and Sue should get a copy in mid to late August to approve. A complimentary copy will be sent to S290 members to provide an overview of the publication and how to order additional copies. (Marty also brought several NRAES publications to demonstrate to the group, which he provided free of charge to members after the meeting...thanks again Marty!) Perennial manuscript: no report from Beattie. Pot-in-pot study: Hall reported that Haydu and Hall have generated a manuscript, but they are still in the final editing stage. The document should be ready for internal review shortly. Behe reported that the Dogwood study has been edited down to a JEH article submission. The study was also reported on at SNA by Brooker last year. Progress on current studies: Behe reported that the JEH manuscript regarding the HRI landscape project is in the final stages. By the end of the summer, a copy should be sent to the authors. The first stage of the study, which did not receive many responses, will be included as a minor part of the JEH manuscript. Price study: McNiel and Beattie have evaluated (and are continuing to evaluate) a collection of nursery price catalogues held by the Cornell library. This collection goes back about 100 years, covers 10 to 12 firms, and in some cases documents the same nursery over a large portion of that time. McNeil has this information on electronic images and has created a data set for Monrovia nursery. Quantity data is not available. Some ideas for use of this data set include comparison of nominal and real prices, negotiated versus catalogue prices, and others. Beattie is creating a data set on perennials. Brooker, van Blokland and Brumfieldagreed at the last meeting to also work on this project (see previous minutes). It was decided that a subcommittee meeting will be held at the winter 2003 meeting. Specialty cut flower budgets - Brumfield reported at the last meeting that not much progress has been made. However the Risk Management Agency is very interested, and opportunities for funding through that agency and other sources was discussed. While no update was provided at this meeting, Haydu, Hodges, van Blokland and Kelly agreed to assist on this project and a subcommittee meeting will be held at the winter 2003 meeting. Poinsettia preferences - Behe reported that a draft of a HortTechnology type of article has been developed. A decision will be made soon as to whether to send it to HortScience first. Business analysis - At the last meeting, Haydu and Hodges reported on an ongoing nursery business analysis program at UFL that provides financial and efficiency benchmarks for Florida firms. They proposed that this be expanded to other states. Uva’s reported to the group that a grant proposal tp do some regional analyses (submitted earlier in the year) was not funded, but the search for funding continues. This effort would be a coordinated effort to extend this program to growers in other states. Data would be standard across states and consistently collected. There is a void on information that permits growers to compare themselves to other growers. Potential participants and funding sources were discussed. It was suggested that a "training" session be conducted at the next project meeting to illustrate how the program operates and the requirements other states will need to meet in order to participate in a regional effort. Uva distributed copies of the NY greenhouse business analysis report, and Behe and Hall agreed to review and provide feedback (Uva will send the data collection form to each). Uva also reported that a RMA grant project is underway to convert the data collection instrument to a web-based format. She has 50 growers lined up for this years analysis. Terms of trade - Hinson reported that he has been collecting information about changes in the terms and condiditons of sale imposed on growers by large retail firms. He has a mail survey in progress, which will probably be supplemented with case study interviews. No results to report at this time. Future studies: Oregon State faculty member is interested in joining S290. Roger proposed a project to do work analogous to that done by Cornell University regarding the produce industry This work is entitled "FreshTrack" and is sponsored by PMA (see the FreshTrack industry studies at PMA's website at http://www.pma.com/ii/products.cfm). Wen-fei, Charlie, and Brooker agreed to put some thought into potential funding sources. Sue Barton will be doing a public opinion survey designed to measure people's preferences for roadside vegetation, environmental impacts of alternative vegetation schemes, and economic impacts associated with roadside vegetation alternatives. Bridget reported that firm called Survey Sampling has a mechanism to measure consumer preferences from a national panel. Sue would like to solicit information that other members that may have ideas regarding survey structure and methodology. Website management issue - a discussion was held regarding the administrative requirements for maintenance and oversight of the S290 website. More feedback from our administrative advisor is expected in the near future. Future meeting dates: Winter 2003 New Orleans (Feb 13-15 or March 6-8) Summer 2003 - Montreal or Ashville, NC (Bridget will call PJ about a possible AAEA symposium and Charlie will check details regarding an Ashville meeting) Respectfully submitted, Charlie Hall (filling in for Roger A. Hinson)