Friday, September 2, 2022
CapitalPress.com 5
Nursery outlook optimistic despite 2022 sales drop, expert says
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Plant
sales have dropped since
the height of the coronavi-
rus pandemic but the eco-
nomic outlook for nurser-
ies remains encouraging,
according to an industry
analysis company.
Consumers are on track
to spend about 4% less
on plants in 2022, but the
slight drop comes after two
years of vigorous growth
in retail plant sales, said
Danny Summers, managing
director of the Garden Cen-
ter Group, a fi nancial con-
sultancy fi rm.
The
average
sale
value per transaction has
increased by nearly 8% this
year, owing partly to infl a-
tion, but the number of
transactions is down more
than 11%, Summers said.
However, it’s likely that
unfavorable spring weather
across much of the U.S.
shortened the peak sales
season, which accounts for
the decrease in transactions,
he said.
“My guess is you didn’t
lose customers, they just
didn’t come as often,” Sum-
mers said Aug. 24 during
the Farwest Show, a nursery
industry conference in Port-
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Danny Summers, managing director of the Garden Center Group industry analysis
fi rm, speaks with Fred Swisher of Bend Pine Nursery at the Aug. 24 Farwest Show in
Portland, Ore.
land, Ore.
Restrictions aimed at
slowing the spread of the
COVID in 2020 spurred
demand for nursery stock
among consumers, who’d
received federal economic
assistance but had limited
ways to spend it.
Total plant sales in the
U.S. grew by roughly 25%
in 2020 while more than
doubling the average profi t
margins for retailers, Sum-
mers said. The industry was
cheered by fi nding many
Klamath Basin to receive
$26 million from federal
infrastructure package
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— Millions of dollars in
federal funding is begin-
ning to fl ow into the
drought-stricken Klamath
Basin that will be used
for a variety of projects
to improve water quality,
irrigation effi ciency and
stabilize populations of
endangered fi sh.
The U.S. Department
of the Interior previously
earmarked $162 million
over fi ve years for the
basin. It comes from the
$1.2 trillion infrastructure
bill passed in 2021.
Offi cials began the
rollout of $26 million on
Aug. 23, calling it a “his-
toric” investment for the
region that has endured
decades of confl ict over
water management for
farms, ranches and sev-
eral species of endan-
gered fi sh.
Interior Secretary Deb
Haaland said the water-
shed straddling the Ore-
gon-California
border
has long sustained tribal
communities, productive
agriculture and abundant
fi sh and wildlife thanks to
clean water, healthy for-
ests and fertile land.
However,
Haaland
said recent water scar-
city has put a tremen-
dous strain on the area’s
fi shing, farming and
environment.
“With millions of dol-
lars being invested in
water and habitat resil-
ience from President
Biden’s Bipartisan Infra-
structure Law, help is on
the way to restore this
once abundant ecosystem
for the benefi t of all its
inhabitants, human or oth-
erwise,” Haaland said in a
statement.
A breakdown of the
funding shows $10 million
will go toward expanding
the Klamath Falls National
Fish Hatchery to increase
rearing capacity for two
species of critically endan-
gered sucker fi sh found
only in Upper Klamath
Lake.
The species, known
as C’waam and Koptu,
are central to the Klam-
ath Tribes’ history and
culture. At least one pop-
ulation of C’waam has
plummeted to just a few
thousand surviving indi-
viduals, according to
tribal estimates.
When completed, the
hatchery expansion will
boost rearing capacity to
60,000 fi sh in an eff ort
to stabilize rapidly dwin-
dling populations.
Another $16 million
will go toward other resto-
ration projects — includ-
ing more than $2.6 mil-
lion for improving wetland
habitat and irrigation effi -
ciency at the Lower Klam-
ath and Tule Lake national
wildlife refuges, key
stops for migratory birds
and waterfowl along the
Pacifi c Flyway.
The Klamath Tribes
will also receive $913,786
for their salmon reintro-
duction program, and
$875,061 to expand their
own sucker-rearing eff ort.
Finally, the Bureau of
Reclamation will collabo-
rate with the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation
to fund 10 grants totaling
$2.2 million to improve
fi sh and wildlife habitat
as part of two programs —
the Klamath River Coho
Restoration Grant Pro-
gram and the Trinity River
Restoration Program.
Both programs aim to
enhance coho recovery in
the basin by removing fi sh
passage barriers and pro-
viding cold, clean water
for salmon to thrive.
Lawmakers from Ore-
gon and California are
hailing the package. Sen.
Alex Padilla, D-Calif.,
called funding for the
basin a “game-changer for
water supply and fi shery
health.”
Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Ore., said the invest-
ment comes as wel-
come news amid extreme
drought.
“With no rain in imme-
diate sight this summer,
there’s obviously much
more work to be done
during this brutally tough
water year,” Wyden said.
“But I’m gratifi ed the
Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law has generated these
federal resources for spe-
cies recovery and habitat
restoration to make sure
every precious drop of
water goes as far as possi-
ble in the basin.”
new, young customers
but wondered whether the
trend could be sustained.
“We
were
worried
whether
they’d
come
back,” he said.
Despite
loosened
COVID restrictions in
2021, retail plant sales
still grew another 12% that
year, reassuring the indus-
try that enthusiasm for gar-
dening was more than just
a passing fad, Summers
said.
Though the pandemic
accelerated the trend, the
millennial
generation’s
love aff air with plants
began before anyone had
heard of COVID, he said.
These younger consum-
ers were noted for becom-
ing “proud plant parents”
before they began get-
ting married and having
children.
“This
started
pre-
COVID,” Summers said.
The millennial genera-
tion may represent an “even
more devoted customer
base” than the boomer gen-
eration, whose members are
now often entering retire-
ment, Summers said. The
boomers have sustained
plant sales for a half-cen-
tury, but are “easily dis-
tracted” by other spending
options.
Wholesale nursery pro-
ducers are also well-po-
sitioned, since they sup-
ply garden centers, as long
as they’re able to ensure a
“consistent supply,” which
has been challenging during
the pandemic, Summers
said.
Garden centers that focus
on plant sales — rather than
“hardware” — are associ-
ated with higher profi t mar-
gins, he said. The Garden
Center Group recommends
that 70% of a retailer’s reve-
nues should be generated by
plants, while the other 30%
should consist of pots, soil,
fertilizers and other items
that support plant sales.
People may buy plants
several times a year but
only purchase bigger-ticket
items once or twice, reduc-
ing the profi t potential,
Summers said.
Despite the positive
forecast, Fred Swisher
of Bend Pine Nursery
in Bend, Ore., said he’s
“more defensive” about the
outlook in 2023 due to ris-
ing interest rates and other
factors.
Not only do higher inter-
est rates hurt home sales,
but consumers are now able
to spend money on travel,
restaurants and concerts, he
said.
Swisher said he doesn’t
anticipate a downturn as
serious as the Great Reces-
sion, which put many nurs-
eries out of business, but
he also doesn’t expect the
stellar growth to continue
as consumers tighten their
purse strings.
Pete Brentano of Brenta-
no’s Tree Farm in St. Paul,
Ore., said he’s “cautiously
optimistic” about the indus-
try’s prospects, partly
because government agen-
cies are investing in plant-
ing trees.
The nursery industry’s
situation is diff erent than
before the Great Recession,
when there were many rel-
atively new entrants to the
business, Brentano said.
Labor constraints have
lately prevented a simi-
lar surge in nursery stock
production.
“If I had a piece of
ground that I was thinking
about putting something on,
I wouldn’t think about nurs-
ery stock,” he said.
Court allows ag to intervene in gray wolf case
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals last week
overturned a lower court’s
ruling that prohibited the
American Farm Bureau
Federation and groups rep-
resenting ranchers from
defending a Trump admin-
istration decision to take
the gray wolf off the list of
endangered species.
With the reversal, the
Farm Bureau, National Cat-
tlemen’s Beef Association,
Public Lands Council and
American Sheep Industry
Association will be allowed
to appeal a decision from the
lower court that vacated the
delisting of the gray wolf in
February.
Defenders of Wildlife
and fi ve other environmen-
tal groups fi led the law-
suit in January 2021 against
the Trump administration’s
removal of Endangered Spe-
cies Act protections for gray
wolves in most of the lower
48 states.
In its ruling last week,
the Court of Appeals found
the district court abused its
discretion by denying Farm
Bureau and the ranching
groups permissive interven-
tion in the case.
Zippy Duvall, Farm
Bureau president, said AFBF
appreciates the Court of
Appeals for recognizing agri-
culture’s interest in defend-
ing the delisting of the gray
wolf.
“Farmers and ranchers
share the goal of a healthy
and thriving ecosystem and
when the gray wolf exceeded
recovery goals, it became an
Endangered Species Act suc-
cess story,” he said.
“With populations now
thriving, management of the
species should be the respon-
sibility of the states, which
can more eff ectively deter-
mine the most appropriate
actions to manage gray wolf
populations,” he said.
Kaitlynn Glover, exec-
utive director of PLC and
NCBA natural resources,
said the gray wolf is clearly
recovered.
“Livestock producers are
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A gray wolf
directly impacted by the
species management deci-
sions made by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, espe-
cially when it comes to spe-
cies with signifi cant federal
footprints,” she said.
“The decision to allow the
coalition to intervene in this
case demonstrates what we
have known all along: live-
stock producers deserve to
have their voice heard on
delisting the gray wolf,” she
said.
Peter Orwick, execu-
tive director of the Ameri-
can Sheep Industry Associa-
tion, said his group is pleased
with the decision to allow
the agricultural organizations
to actively participate and
seek a positive legal decision
that supports farmers and
ranchers.