Trade Flows within the U.S. Nursery Industry

Abstract

This study summarizes regional trade flows in the U.S. nursery industry by incorporating origin and destination (OD) sales data from a national survey of ornamental plant growers and dealers conducted in 2014. Specifically, we discuss: 1) regional annual sales reported by the green industry firms in 2013, 2) percentage distribution of OD trade flows by regions and states, and 3) differences in the percentage distribution of OD trade flows during the 5-year period by region. Of 32,000 questionnaires sent via mail and email, a total of 2,657 usable observations were received and used in the analysis. The OD trade flow results were then compared with those of 2008 estimates by eight United States regions. The highest proportion of inter-regional sales were reported by firms in the Appalachian (35.7%), followed by Mountain (25.4%), and Southeast (19.1%) regions, and the lowest inter-regional sales were in the Midwest (2.2%) and Great Plains (0.9%) regions. The results show considerable changes in both intra-state (within home state) and inter-regional (between states) trade flows from 2008 to 2013. Overall, intra-regional trade in the Great Plains, Midwest, Pacific, and Southeast regions increased by 9.9, 3.7, 1.6, and 7.8% from 2008 to 2013, respectively. However, the proportion of sales within Appalachian, Mountain, Northeast and Southcentral regions, decreased by 11.1, 8.3, 3.8 and 0.2%, respectively. Implications for relevant green industry stakeholders are discussed.