This white paper focuses on the grower sector of the green industry and the costs incurred in the propagation, production, and shipping of plants to retail and landscape customers. While there are already- existing indices that are available that reflect general inflationary pressures in the economy, the use of standard measures such as the Producers Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) for this purpose is insufficient because wholesale growers in the green industry purchase different goods and services from those used for calculating these indexes. The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service also calculates an Index of Prices Received by Farmers for their crops and livestock and an Index of Prices Paid by Farmers for the inputs they use during production. However, these indices also fall short in that they contain many items that are not applicable to nursery and greenhouse growers or exclude items that are applicable.
This Index of Prices Paid by Growers overcomes these challenges and includes major production inputs (e.g., containers, soil mixes, propagation stock, plant protection products, fertilizers, and fuel), along with the costs of labor, maintenance supplies, packaging materials, labels and other signage, freight, and other shipping-related expenses.
