AUGUSTA – Greenhouses, nurseries and garden centers statewide will celebrate Maine Greenhouse and Nursery Day on Saturday, May 6. Dozens of family-owned horticulture-related businesses will kick off the growing season with special events to highlight gardening in Maine.
Planned activities for the events include: demonstrations, workshops, personal tours, expert speakers, refreshments, giveaways, door prizes, raffles, container-planting demonstrations and plants and balloons for children. Participating greenhouses and nurseries also will preview spring introductions and share their expertise by offering gardening tips, information on plant varieties and ideas for window box and landscape design.
Governor Paul R. LePage remarked on the most recent horticulture numbers from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. “Greenhouse and Nursery Day helps highlight the rapidly growing Maine horticulture industry,” said LePage. “Maine horticulture sales have increased 43.6 %, double the national average increase since 2009 and the number of Maine horticultural operations have increased 28 percent. This is yet another positive sign that Maine agriculture continues to grow in size and importance to the Maine economy.”
“Maine has taken steps to support the horticulture industry and provide it with the recognition and support its counterparts in the other 49 states have received,’ said Commissioner Walt Whitcomb. “The tax changes proposed by the LePage Administration and supported by legislative majorities in 2011, provided a sales tax refund on purchases of ‘depreciable machinery or equipment used …in the commercial production of greenhouse and nursery products.’ LePage Administration backed changes to the tax code support the hard work of horticultural professionals who have more than doubled the impressive growth rate of U.S. horticulture over a 5-year period.”
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry licenses and provides technical assistance to more than 1,340 businesses selling plants in Maine. To support this growing industry, the Department certifies plant exports, regulates imported plants and assists growers with plant pest problems.
Maine Greenhouse and Nursery Day is supported by the Ornamental Horticulture Council and the Mid-Maine Greenhouse Growers Association.
In 2014, the United States had 23,221 horticultural operations that produced and sold $13.8 billion in floriculture, nursery, and other horticultural specialty products. Maine had 320 horticultural operations that sold $70.5 million in horticultural products in 2014, compared to 250 horticultural operations that sold $49.1 million in horticultural products in 2009. Horticulture producers in Maine had $66.7 million in total production expenses in 2014. Hired labor expenses in Maine accounted for 32 percent of the total production expenses. Of the 1,828 hired workers in Maine, 1,082 worked less than 150 days compared to 746 who worked 150 days or more.
NASS provides accurate, timely, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. The Horticultural Specialties Highlights and all other NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov
For more information about Maine Greenhouse and Nursery Day, go to: http://www.plants4maine.com/GreenhouseAndNurseryDay.shtml
