As Hurricane Irma ripped through the state, Florida 's plant and tree nurseries suffered significant structural damages and expect sizeable crop losses.
Florida’s nursery and landscape industry generates $21 billion in total output sales and provides jobs for more than 232,000 people. Of the $21 billion, Florida’s nursery and greenhouse growers, most impacted by Hurricane Irma, produce $4.5 billion in farm gate sales of plants, flowers and trees.
"It's way too early to tally the losses, yet we know most of the state's nursery and greenhouse crop growers are impacted," said CEO of the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association Ben Bolusky. "Almost all have lost some and some have lost all."
What we know:
Structural damage and crop losses are widespread throughout the Florida peninsula, yet nurseries are resilient and many have already resumed shipments.
While the winds have calmed, flooding remains a concern for some nurseries.
Many nurseries still have no power to run their irrigation systems which, in turn, increases the risk of crop losses.
With labor already tight, the post-storm labor situation will be even tighter as nurseries clean-up and get back to normal business.
Florida’s landscape companies are already playing an important role in statewide clean-up.
The greatest need is for large, commercial generators and fuel across South, Southwest and Central Florida areas.
FNGLA will continue to assess Hurricane Irma 's impact on the industry.
Source: Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association
