Data From the 50-State Floriculture Crops Survey

Dr. Marvin Miller

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released the Floriculture Crops data for the 2021 calendar year in late May. This now details production and sales for all 50 states, 28 of which are separately enumerated, while the other 22 are grouped into “other states.” This compares to only 17 states previously included in the program in 2020. This report also has added 30 new crops to the annual report, which has increased the program coverage for all industry segments.

Unfortunately, there’s no “tidy” report format, such as we’ve had in the past, with all data on any crop presented in one table. Instead, one must know what stat(s) you are looking for, query USDA’s Quick Stats app and then it is downloaded.

Nevertheless, I’ve pieced together a preliminary look at the data and offer the following:

• The total sales for all 50 states for 2021 was $6,430,424,000. This compares to $5,544,587,000 reported for 50 states in the 2019 Census of Horticultural Specialties, which was the last USDA report on 50 states of floriculture sales. This suggests we have had an increase of 15.98% over the two years ($885.8 million).

• For the 17 states that were the basis of the 2020 Floriculture Crops Summary, the 2021 tally was $5,100,855,000. This compares to the 2020 total of $4,645,297,000, which suggests an increase of 9.8% over just the last year in these 17 states.

• The number of floriculture producers totaled 9,558 in 2021 across the 50 states. For the 17 states surveyed in 2020, the 2021 grower count increased by 8.1%.

Expect more in-depth analysis in the next issue of GrowerTalks. GT