Enhancing Labor Performance of the Green Industry in the Gulf South

In 2004, Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor embarked on a project comprised of  both  the determination of  needs and the creation or transfer of technologies to meet current and projected industry requirements for labor in the Green Industry.  The greenhouse and nursery industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the I-10 corridor region’s agricultural economy; however, a major problem facing this industry is a shortage of workers, particularly skilled workers. A national survey of commercial nursery/landscape operations listed shortage of labor as the number one limitation facing the industry at the end of 2001. The shortage continues today.  The geographic focus of the project was the greenhouse and nursery industry of 8 of the 12 states in the Southern United States, namely  Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.  The first priority of this project was the creation of new knowledge and technology-based jobs and improved worker safety and comfort. Adoption of this technology will improve working conditions for greenhouse and nursery workers, increase worker retention, improve worker safety, increase worker productivity, improve skill levels, and create new jobs related to servicing the machinery and instrumentation. The Coastal Research and Extension Center, in cooperation with industry leaders representing the Gulf South,  identified several major areas of program focus. Together, we developed a comprehensive set of production issues to be addressed through the integration of applied mechanization technologies developed through this project.  The overall objective of this project was to develop novel mechanization and automation technologies which will enable an increase in worker capacity and skill level. Worker safety and comfort may also be improved through the introduction of new mechanization innovations. Nursery workers’ skill levels, wage rates, safety, and overall job satisfaction will be increased. With these improvements, the labor shortage currently facing the nursery industry will decrease and worker retention will increase.  More specifically, there were five focus areas being addressed through this project:  1) to examine all aspects of nursery production for automation potential, 2) to develop technology for automation of the green industry to increase worker capacity, 3) to increase automation through technology transfer, 4) to increase worker safety and comfort through the use of automated technologies, and 5) to determine the socio-economic impact of these technologies on green industry owners and workers.