The North Carolina Cut Flower Industry: Results of a Production and Marketing Survey

The cut flower industry is a small segment of North Carolina’s floriculture industry, currently valued by the USDA Economic Research Service at $4.2 million in annual sales on 128 farms. In 2003, an economic and cost analysis survey of the industry was conducted by Megan Weddington, an MS candidate at North Carolina State University (NCSU). There has been little information collected about cut flower production and marketing since. A survey was conducted among cut flower growers in Spring 2012 and 2013 to determine their production and marketing practices and to identify their biggest concerns. Forty-five responses were recorded from a representative sample of North Carolina growers from different areas of the state. Results were analyzed to obtain a current portrait of the growing industry. Many farms did not produce cut flowers in 2003 when the last industry survey was conducted. Seventy  percent of farms have been growing cut flowers commercially for less than 10 years. The majority of farms are small; 64% are under an acre in cut flowers. 84% hire less than two workers per year. However, many also produce fresh fruits, vegetables, potted plants, meat, or eggs. On average, 43% of surveyed farms’ income is from cut flowers. 75% of farms are organic, but only 14% are certified organic or certified naturally grown. By far, most of production (81%) is field grown in open ground. Crops are diverse: growers produce on average 40 varieties or cultivars of cuts from 22 different species. From this list, the top 50 most commonly grown cultivars were identified for field and postharvest trials in the 2012 and 2013 NCSU summer cut flower trials. Annuals comprise over half of all cuts grown, followed by bulbs at 20%, herbaceous perennials at 14%, and woody perennials at 8%. Most farms trial new varieties yearly, but only 25% make significant changes to what they grow on a yearly basis. Weed control is the number one production challenge listed by growers. Many use plastic or organic mulches, hand weeding, and flame weeding to control infestation. Most farms have cold storage facilities (71%) and use commercial floral preservatives (56%), although only 37% use hydrating solutions. 79% of farm sales are retail, and 66% of retail sales are made at farmers markets. 80% of farms utilize social media or an online farm blog to promote their flowers. Production and marketing challenges were identified and will guide future research.