Midwest Nurseries Expect Rising Costs in 2006

 

A small survey found Midwest nurseries expect a 15-20 percent increase in costs for foliage plants and another 20 percent for delivers.

The biggest increase in costs for nurseries and retailers in the Midwest because of the 2005 hurricane season and fuel prices could be with foliage plants and cut flowers, according to a small sampling of companies surveyed by Jay Fitzgerald, a horticulture professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Companies expect a 15-20 percent increase in costs whether they pick up foliage plants or have them delivered and another 20 percent boost for delivering products. Those increases assume nurseries can even acquire foliage plants.

The wholesalers surveyed said in the short term cut flowers would be high, with as much as a 33 percent hike in costs. Greenery should bounce back in the long run. The affect of the hurricanes and gas prices on woody ornamentals is not clear, as most deliveries aren?EUR??,,????'???t until the spring, but one company expects a minimum of a five percent increase in delivery costs.