Delaware’s Green Industry was presented by Tracy Wooten and Valann Gudischak. We learned what and who is part of the green industry, with that being producers, retailers, landscapers, land managers, golf courses, and suppliers of equipment. Probably one o the most important lessons learned was the difference between floriculture crops and nursery crops. Floriculture crops being those bedding/garden plants, cut cultivated greens, flowers, potted flowering plants, foliage plants, and propagative floriculture material. Nursery crops being those of broadleaf and coniferous evergreens, deciduous shade trees and flowering trees, deciduous shrubs and other ornamentals, fruit and nut plants for home use, cut and to-be-cut Christmas trees, and propagation material or lining out stock. Grower sales of nursery crops accruing to approximately $8 billion annually and floriculture crops at approximately $4.8 billion. Learning about this part of agriculture was interesting as you do not hear about it often and the many job and career opportunities lie within the green industry.
Category Archives: Horticulture Industry
The Green Industry
Tracy Wootten and Valann Budischak came to class to talk to us about Delaware’s Green Industry. I did not know much about the green industry before this lecture and it was very interesting to learn about. Tracy and Valann taught us the difference between floriculture and nusery crops. Floriculture crops are bedding/gardening plants, cut cultivated greens, flowers, and foliage plants. Nursery crops are trees such as evergreens, shade trees, flowering trees, shrubs, fruit and nut plants, and Christmas trees. Nursery and floriculture crops produce about $13.8 billion in grower sales. The green industry itself is producing about $21 million nationally per year. The horticulture industry has a large impact on Delaware’s economy. Tracy and Valann explained to us the different people involved in the green industry, including producers, retailers, landscapers, and more. There are a lot of job opportunities in the green industry and I was unaware of this before this lecture. I found it very interesting when they talked about planting flowers on the side of highways to decrease driver fatigue. I really enjoyed learning about a part of agriculture that I do not hear much about.
Delaware Green Industry with Tracy Wootten & Valann Budischak
When people think about Agriculture, one of the first ideas that I think pop into people’s minds is what would be properly defined as the Green Industry, greenhouses, florists, gardens and plant nursery’s. Ms. Tracy Wootten and Ms. Valann Budischak are two ladies very involved in the Green Industry in Delaware. Ms. Wootten is a self defined farm kid that grew up to be a farm adult and Ms. Budischak is a lady who has had, and who currently wears many hats, working with the Delaware Nursery Association, DelDot and the Botanic Gardens.
These two ladies gave us a class length tour of Delaware’s Green Industry! Ranging from who is involved, the different aspects, different types of growing, sales, suppliers and more. It was really interesting to hear how much there is to the green industry, because people understand it’s huge but just how much it actually encompasses isn’t really thought about. For example jobs in the Green Industry aren’t just working directly with plants, but also with accounting, transport, legal, inventory work etc. I really liked hearing about the different programs in Delaware like DNLA and the Livable Lawns.