The total 2013 wholesale value of floriculture crops for North Carolina producers with $10,000 or more in sales is estimated at $243.4 million, down 9% from the 2012 total of $266.4 million. North Carolina floriculture sales ranked 5th in the nation, behind California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas. The wholesale value of the selected floriculture crops surveyed with $100,000 or more sales totaled $235.6 million in 2013, down 8% from $255.7 million in 2012.
BEDDING/GARDEN PLANTS accounted for $135.9 million of the overall sales, down 9% from the 2012 value of $149.9 million. Potted bedding plants sales totaling $57.5 million decreased 16% in 2013, from $68.4 million the previous year. Flowering hanging baskets sales at $35 million were down 3% from 2012. Flats of bedding plants totaled $43.4 million in 2013, down 5% from $45.4 million sales in 2012.
POTTED FLOWERING PLANTS accounted for $29.4 million of the total wholesale value, down 11% from the 2012 value of $33.1 million. Poinsettias sales at $17 million were generated from 4.3 million pots of all sizes. Potted florist chrysanthemum value of sales was down 3% in 2013 at $2.4 million from 489 thousand pots.
HERBACEOUS PERENNIAL PLANTS accounted for $43.1 million unchanged from the 2012 value. Potted hardy/garden chrysanthemums were down 6% in 2013 with wholesale value of $21.2 million generated from 8.1 million pots of all sizes. Hosta sales were up 2% in 2013 at $1.8 million. Sales of other herbaceous perennials totaled $20.1 million, up 6% from 2012.
CUT FLOWER PLANTS accounted for $7.8 million of the total value, up 10% from the 2012 value of $7.1 million. The United States 2013 wholesale value of floriculture crops is up 1 percent from the 2012 valuation. The total crop value at wholesale for the 15-State program for all growers with $10,000 or more in sales is estimated at $4.40 billion for 2013, compared with $4.36 billion for 2012. The number of producers for 2013, at 6,042, is down 2 percent in the 15 States compared with the 2012 count of 6,185.
Source: USDA / North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
