The drought that has Georgia and North Carolina firmly in its grip, with the surrounding states of South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi along for the ride, is driving much of the green industry to its knees.
The worst affected state so far is Georgia. The drought has been exacerbated by not having adequate water supplies for the huge population surge Northern Georgia has experienced over the past 20 years. Much of the state is at a Level 4 drought response plan, and all outdoor watering is banned.
“We're often told by water purveyors that they cannot enforce the one-day a week watering, or hand watering, so ... enforcement becomes as easy as driving around, looking for irrigation or outdoor use,” said Sherry Loudermilk, executive director of Georgia Green Industry Association (GGIA).
Growers, landscapers and retailers have been hit hard. Out of the 79,000 green industry employees in Georgia, 35,000 have lost their jobs, with 30,000 in jeopardy of losing their jobs. “The only ones left are pretty much the owners and their families,” Loudermilk said.
The industry has lost $3.15 billion in 2007 alone. "Horticulture is Georgia's No.2 agricultural commodity in economic value, yet we are not perceived by others as an important and viable industry," Loudermilk said.
Pike Family Nurseries has filed bankruptcy, although it is still operating. Habersham Gardens has closed for the winter. Several plant suppliers told me their Atlanta retail clients haven’t been paying bills lately.
North Carolina is also in trouble, but not quite so deeply. Unlike Georgia, North Carolina has a series of water boards across the state, 628 of them, according to the governor’s press secretary, Renee Hoffman. So while the governor has called for conservation, restrictions are decided by each water board. For a statewide ban to be declared, “[Governor Easley] would have to declare a state of emergency, which would require a threat to the public health and safety,” Hoffman said. North Carolina is not at that point.
I spoke with a few retailers in North Carolina. All of them said they were cutting down on their spring plant orders. One, Tina Lee, co-owner of DeWayne’s Home and Garden Showplace in Selma, N.C., said that for the first time they would not pre-book any spring plants. DeWayne’s game plan is to send their plant buyer to local growers to cherry pick the best plants -- if the water restrictions stayed at the current level. In Lee’s county, watering is allowed only on Saturday, and only if it’s hand watering. That may change to a full-out ban by spring if conditions do not improve, however.
The fewer plants garden centers buy, the less revenue growers earn. With the downturn in new housing starts, even landscapers are feeling the pinch, which will affect growers even more deeply. Loudermilk said she’s beginning to get reports that the ripple effect has even reached plug suppliers.
One source, who preferred anonymity, reported on another rumor (an emphasis on “rumor”) that claims one major mass merchant will not sell plant material at 90 stores in the drought-affected areas, and other more mass merchants are scaling back severely on the amount of plant material they will sell.
Insurance and disaster loans not much help
Insurance policies do not cover losses due to the market drying up (excuse the pun). For growers, if there is a healthy crop, but watering bans lead to no buyers, business losses will not be covered. However, if growers lose their crops because of the drought, there may be some recourse. Those rules apply for disaster loans as well.
On the retail side, this applies even more. The inventory is not destroyed. There just aren’t any customers coming in.
What can we do to help?
When a garden retailer is hit by a tornado, hurricane or a fire, the industry knows how to help. We gather to organize shipments of generators, water bottles and even diapers for workers’ children so the industry can keep its plants and its businesses alive. Suppliers often offer to deliver product on faith so that garden centers can get their cash flow going again.
But droughts are much more insidious disasters. Retailers don’t need generators or diapers. And they don’t want plants that they can’t sell.
I brainstormed with a few of those I interviewed about what can be done, especially with Loudermilk. Here’s our rather anemic list that we’ve established. Feel free to add to it.
* Buy inventory. Growers and retailers in non-drought regions can buy inventory that’s destined for the trash bin. When I spoke with Alan Shapiro, owner of Grandiflora, a growing facility in Gainesville, Fla., he said he had heard about growers dumping tons of pansies. If he had been aware of it at the time, he would have sent a few trucks up to buy and load up on pansies, since he ran short.
Likewise, retailers that are struggling with cash flow due to the drought may be willing to part with healthy plants and accessories to get enough cash to venture into retail areas beyond plants.
Loudermilk said she would be happy to put a forum of some sort on GGIA’s Web site to help facilitate growers or retailers who can buy inventory from her members.
* Recruit employees. With 35,000 (and growing) unemployed green workers on the market, operations in other parts of the country can recruit quality employees. Such a high portion of the industry is unemployed, Loudermilk said, there are front-line supervisors, managers and growers looking for work.
* Launch a letter writing campaign. The main thing the Georgia green industry needs is water. Currently, all Georgia industries are being asked, but not required, to reduce water usage 10 percent. All save the green industry. It alone has been told to stop watering plants, except for professionally installed gardens, and then only for a month until the plants are officially “established.”
The Georgia General Assembly went into session just this past Monday (Jan. 14), and there are a couple of bills being considered that might allow the green industry to keep its inventory alive. Loudermilk said she would love to see a letter writing campaign come to their aid.
“The two bills include building of reservoirs (SB 342) and acceptance of the Comprehensive State Wide Water Plan (HR 1022). Neither of those will be a fix for the industry this season or even in the next 2-3 years, but will help in the long run,” Loudermilk said.
If the Comprehensive State Wide Water Plan bill passes, it will create watershed management districts, similar to North Carolina's water districts. And forming those districts will require committee meetings, Loudermilk said.
“[In the previous plan,] we didn't include a provision for homeowners to be able to water their do-it-yourself plantings for 30 days (keeping receipt of purchase as proof for water use), but included the 30-days for landscapers. We must change this thinking with the new plan that will come. There will be a new committee ... that will convene with the passing of the new Comprehensive Statewide Water Plan. You can bet that there will be green industry people at the table.”
The industry is working two avenues, Loudermilk said, one with EPD [Environmental Protection Division] and one with state political leaders. “I am not at liberty to discuss either of those actions at the moment, fearing something would blow up. Our next big meeting with officials in both areas is Friday,” she said.
Under the Level 4 drought response rules, the official emergency level cannot be reduced until counties have experienced four continuous months of positive increase in rainfall. In four months, the spring season will be all but over for Georgia. In the coastal counties, spring begins in February. In March for the rest of the state.
With that in mind, below is a list of key lawmakers to send letters. And here is a link to a sample letter on GGIA's site.
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle
240 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Fax: 404-656-6739
Senator Bill Cowsert
319-A Coverdell Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, GA 30334
Fax 404-657-0797
Senator Ross Tolleson
121-C State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
FAX 404-651-6767
Representative Lynn Smith
228 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Representative Tom McCall
226 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
It’s a puny list of actions, considering the severity of the problem. Post a comment or e-mail your ideas on what the industry as a whole can do to help.
-- Carol
From Ken Long of L.A. Reynolds in N.C.:
I don’t think we are heading to an Atlanta situation. My community has great water resources and our local authorities have not placed a mandatory restriction like Raleigh and Charlotte has. It will have to get much worse for a mandatory ban here. And the good news it is slowly getting better not worse. Our sales were affected slightly b/c it was dry and the governor had a voluntary program in place (still does).
[What the industry can do to help Atlanta is] lobby the government officials and spread the consequences over all water users not just the green industry.
Posted by: Carol Miller | January 23, 2008 at 01:07 PM