Nurseries seek help in improving sales, limiting costs

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

The biggest factor affecting Western nursery research right now is the economy, researchers say.

The industry wants researchers to find better ways to survive the recession, said Jim Owen, an assistant professor of horticulture at Oregon State University.

"'If you can help me sell plants' is kind of the running joke," he said, noting the industry has been hit hard by the recession.

Automation, mechanization and efficiency are all important areas, he said.

"Anything that increases efficiency so you can do more with less resources is the focus right now," he said.

At the same time, there seems to be less funding available for researchers, he said.

"The pool of money is not changing very much, but the amount of people going for that pool of money is increasing," Owen said.

Owen left OSU this month to take a similar position at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

"It is just a new opportunity with a bit of greater stability," Owen said when his departure was announced in May.

His new position includes funding for a research assistant. Owen funded his OSU assistant's salary with grants, which are getting harder to secure.

USDA's Specialty Crop Research Initiative has assisted with multiyear grants, Owen said, but competition for the money has increased.

Loren Oki, co-director of the University of California Nursery and Floraculture Alliance, agreed there are more limitations on funding, which in turn reduces researchers' ability to address issues the industry faces.

Invasive species, diseases and pests are a top priority, but "there's still not enough money to fully address those challenges," Oki said. Pests such as the Asian citrus psyllid and light brown apple moth deserve more attention, he said.

"It's a really difficult place to be because everybody has priorities," Oki said. "These issues don't just affect nursery ornamentals."

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture collects a $100 fee from all companies who buy, sell or produce nursery stock. From that fee, $25 goes into a special fund that administers grants for research, Ann Bates, executive director of the Idaho Nursery and Landscape Association, said.

"Because of the number of Idaho businesses that no longer exist in the Idaho green industry there was not as much funding put into the nursery research account," Bates said.

Jeanne McNeil, executive director of the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association, said research projects include new disease problems that need to be addressed.

"There always is another insect that comes along," she said. "As those move across the country or into the country, controls have to be devised. That's the unknown factor."

But there are always projects that don't receive funding, McNeil said.