Editor’s note: This is a month
ly column from the Pennsylvania
Ag Statistics Service (PASS), a
field office of USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS) in cooperation with the
Pennsylvania Department of Ag
riculture (PDA). The Website is
www.usda.gov/nass/.
FLORICULTURE,
NURSERY AND
CHRISTMAS TREE
PRODUCTION
The greenhouse and nursery
industry is consistently among
the top five sectors of Pennsylva
nia agriculture. Within crops, the
value of horticulture sales is a
very close second to mushroom
sales.
In 2002, Agaricus mushroom
sales totaled about $391 million,
which was 9.7 percent of all
Pennsylvania agricultural sales.
Greenhouse and nursery sales
were about $360 million, or 8.9
percent of all sales. The next
largest crop was corn, with $l2B
million of sales or 3.2 percent of
the total.
To measure the floriculture
portion of this industry, the an
nual Commercial Floriculture
Survey was recently mailed to
about 1,200 producers in Penn
sylvania as part of a 36-state sur
vey across the nation.
In order to measure the other
part of the horticulture industry,
the Nursery and Christmas Tree
Production Survey is done every
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NASS
Agriculture Counts
By Marc Tosiano
Pa. State Statistician
two or three years. It was mailed
to about 1,000 Pennsylvania
growers as part of a 17-state pro
gram. This survey was first com
pleted for 2000 production.
The results of these surveys in
clude information about produc
tion, sales, and average prices re
ceived for various plant
materials. Some growers have
used these reports to evaluate
their own prices against the state
average and prices in surround
ing states.
The floriculture report in
cludes information about annual
bedding plants, herbaceous per
ennials, flowering potted plants,
cut flowers, cut (florist) greens,
foliage plants, and propagative
material. The nursery and
Christmas tree survey includes
data on broadleaf and coniferous
evergreens, deciduous shade and
flowering trees, deciduous shrubs,
fruit and nut plants, cut Christ
mas Trees, transplants for com
mercial truck crop production,
and propagation material or lin
ing out stock.
The Floriculture Crops Sum
mary will be issued on April 27
and the “Nursery and Christmas
Tree Summary” on July 26 (see
www.usda.gov/nass/search.htm).
Nursery And Floriculture
Chemical Usage
Without actual application
rates from growers, the EPA may
assume growers use far more pes-
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ticides than they actually do.
This could hurt the horticultural
industry if pesticides are unnec
essarily removed from the mar
ket.
A recent example is when US-
Apple used this and other in
formation to preserve the use of
azinphos-methyl (Guthion) to
control insects and mites. Simi
larly, the National Potato Coun
cil was also able to preserve the
use of methamidophos (Monitor)
to control virus-carrying aphids
and triphenyltin hydorzide
(TPTH, Supertin) for late blight.
About 700 growers in Pennsyl
vania, along with 3,500 growers
in five other states, will get a let
ter in the mail that explains the
survey. The survey is conducted
every two or three years. Trained
interviewers will then contact the
selected operators to set up a
meeting time that is convenient
for the grower.
The interview typically lasts
about an hour, but it can help to
preserve chemicals you rely on.
Having fertilizer and pesticide re
cords on hand will help to simpli
fy the interview. In Pennsylvania,
growers will be able to earn one
core pesticide credit for respond
ing to the survey. The results of
this study will be released Sept.
15, 2004 (see www.usda.gov/
nass/search.htm).
The “NASS 2004 Guide to
Products And Services” is avail
WEST CHESTER (Chester
Co.) The Chester County
Commisioners and the Chester
County Agricultural Develop
ment Council presented two agri-
Free Catalog
Commissioners Present Agricultural Awards
cultural citations at the Dec.
9 commissioners meeting.
These awards are given an
nually for excellence in agri
culture.
The Angelo J. Zunino and
Son, Inc. mushroom opera-
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able by calling (800) 727-9540.
This 30-page booklet describes
the national program of agricul
tural statistics provided by
USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS).
All national reports are listed
with instructions for how to ac
cess the reports at no charge via
e-mail subscriptions and the In
ternet. National reports on paper
can also be ordered for a fee.
However, paper reports from
Harrisburg are still free to grow
ers. Call (800) 498-1518 for an
order form.
Year-End Surveys Continue
Last month I discussed the
year-end surveys done in Decem
ber for crops, hogs, and poultry.
In January, we ask growers for
your help to measure production
of other commodities for 2003.
Once again, the surveys men
tioned below are conducted in all
major states to generate national
and state production statistics for
2003. To see the results of all
these surveys, see our Website at
w w w. usda. go v/nass/.
I hope you can find the time to
help us make the most accurate
“Agriculture Counts” by return
ing your survey form as soon as
possible or answering our ques
tions over the telephone.
Jan. 1 Cattle And
Sheep Surveys
These two surveys provide the
only state-level measure of cattle
tion was honored with the Farm
er of the Year Award for 2003.
Angelo J. Zunino and Son, Inc. is
a modem mushroom enterprise
in New Garden Township oper
ated by David Zunino with the
help of his family, including five
sons.
David Zunino has implement
ed best management practices at
their facilities and the operation
has been an outstanding cooper
ator with the Chester County
and sheep herds. In July, only the
largest operations are contacted
for input to national-level data.
The cattle survey generates in
ventories for beef cows, milk
cows, bulls, heifers, steers, and
calves. The survey also asks and
publishes data about death loss,
calves born, cattle on feed, and
value of breeding stock.
The sheep survey targets in
ventories and values of ewes,
rams, lambs for breeding, and
market lambs by weight group.
Other data requested includes
lambs born, death losses, wool
production, and wool prices re
ceived by farmers.
A letter was sent to about 1,600
cattle and 300 sheep growers that
were selected and we will ask for
your help during early January.
Both the “Cattle” and “Sheep
and Goats” reports will be issued
Jan. 30 (see www.usda.gov/nass/
search.htm).
Honey Production
This annual program generates
state and national statistics about
number of colonies, honey pro
duction, stocks on hand, and av
erage prices.
In Pennsylvania, about 200
apiarists have already been sent
the annual survey. Telephone
calls will be made to nonrespon
dents in late January. The
“Honey” report will be published
Feb. 27 (see www.usda.gov/nass/
search.htm).
Conservation District and Natu
ral Resources Conservation Serv
ice. They use the net system tech
nology for efficiency in their
operation, and use runoff and
wastewater in ways that prevent
pollution. Their mushroom busi
ness is a tradition that spans four
generations of the family.
The 2003 Distinguished Agri
cultural Service Award was pres
ented to Charles (Chip) Roten, a
vice president with The Peoples
Bank of Oxford. He has
devoted much of his
professional career to
providing various types
of loans for the agricul
tural community. He
has established the Peo
ples Bank of Oxford as
the leading bank in
Pennsylvania utilizing
the Next Generation
Loan Program. Roten
has worked with county
and state officials to im
prove and streamline the
program. He has shared
his knowledge of agri
cultural lending with
other lenders and is
highly regarded in the
agricultural community.
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