Trees, Leaves, and Seeds

The Impact of “Plants” on the Texas Economy

Objectives

• Establish an understanding of the Texas “Plant Industry.”

• Discuss the individual components of Texas’ “Plant Industry.”

• Develop an appreciation for the “Plant Industry.”

• Build an understanding of the “Plant Industry’s” role on Texas’ economy.

Texas “Plant Industry”

• Crops• Greenhouse/Nursery• Forestry• Fruit/Nut

Texas and Its Crops

• $4.966 billion industry• 28% of total Ag. Commodities, as a whole• Prices in decline compared to National

averages

King of Texas

• Cotton, Cotton, Cotton– $1.25 billion– Most predominant in South/Central Texas– 6.23% of Ag. Commodities

Food Crops

• Corn ($577 million)• Onions ($106 million)• Cabbage ($66 million)• Rice ($55 million)• Potatoes ($45 million)• Sugarcane ($44 million)

Feed Grains

• Hay ($318 million)• Wheat ($276 million)• Sorghum ($271 million)• Cottonseed ($174 million)

Notice: Difference in prices for feed and food crops….

Crop ProductionCrop Production

• Farm manager• Section grower• Vineyard

owner/manager• Crop distribution

Texas Cotton Farm

Texas “GREEN” Industry

• Economic ImpactEconomic Impact

• ComponentsComponents

• LocationLocation

• Work ForceWork Force

• Future OutlookFuture Outlook

Economic Impact(8.8% of Texas Agriculture Cash Receipts)

• Total Sales    Over $7.97 Billion    $7.6 Billion in state• Total Economic Impact of $9.75 billion• Value Added Impact: Sales Revenues – Cost of

Purchased Inputs = $6.46 billion

Components of Green Industry

• Florist Supplies, Fertilizers, Herbicides- Allied Input Suppliers ($535 million)

• Container Trees, Shrubs, Bedding Plants- Wholesale firms: $1.05 billion

• Retail: $4.69 billion• Landscaping: $2.2 billion

Location

Total Sales

Retail SalesGrower SalesLandscape Sales

Work Force

• 222,562 Texans employed • Average Number of Employees/Firm

- Nursery Growers: 19 - Retailers: 23 - Landscape Firms: 42

• Expected increase in labor force by 30% in next five years

Future Industry Outlook• Very Good with Increases in:

- Jobs (30% in next 5 years) - Retail (2/3 expect to increase retail square footage by as much as 79%)

• Recession Resistance - Phenomena of consumers traveling less - Want to enjoy home (lawn & landscape)

Forestry: In the Big Forestry: In the Big SchemeScheme

History of Texas ForestsHistory of Texas Forests

• In 1880, 146 million board feet of timber were harvested in East Texas

• Little attention was given to reforestation

• Many sites were cleared for farm land

The Pineywoods TodayThe Pineywoods Today• 11.9 million acres of

forest land in 43 East Texas counties

• Approx. 60% of Texas forests are owned by private landowners

• 30% owned by forest industry

• 7% owned by government

33%

7%

60%

private owners forest industry government

150000

98000

89000

77000

76000

69000

68000

North Carolina

Texas

Georgia

Tennessee

Alabama

Mississippi

Virginia

Employees

Southern Wood-Based Southern Wood-Based Manufacturing EmploymentManufacturing Employment

Wood-Based Manufacturing PayrollWood-Based Manufacturing PayrollTexas Total: $2.3 BillionTexas Total: $2.3 Billion

41%

20%

39% Paper & Allied Products

Furniture & Fixtures

Lumber & WoodProducts

The Future of Pine PlantationThe Future of Pine Plantation

2500

3000

3900

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500

1995

2020

2040

year

Pine plantation area (thousand acres)

1995 2020 2040

Texas Fruit and Nut Industry

Texas Produces…• Oranges*• Grapefruits*• Lemons• Limes• Tangerines• Kumquats• Hybrids: calamondin

and citrangequats

• Peaches*• Plums• Apples• Cherries• Pears• Apricots• Raspberries• Blackberries• Strawberries• Figs• Watermelons• Cantaloupes• Grapes

2000: 280 lbs consumption per capita12.71% change since 1991

2001: Texas produced 1.17% of U.S. exports

Citrus Production• Primarily in the Rio Grande Valley• First Introduction• The Great Depression• 1949 and 1951 freezes• 1983 and 1989 freezes• Production of citrus other than oranges and

grapefruit continues to be limited.• 2003 Texas Production : U.S. Production (boxes)

Grapefruit: 5,650,000 : 50,080,000Oranges: 1,570,000 : 267,040,000

Peaches• Peach production apex in

1910.• 1930 reduction in

production• 1991 Texas was 10th in

peach production.• 1990s production was

primarily in East Texas, the Western Cross Timbers, and Hill Country.

Watermelons/Cantaloupes

• Both are grown in sandy soil.• Texas produces more watermelons than any other

state.• In 2001 Texas had $28,800,000 in cash receipts for

watermelons and $69,720,000 in cash receipts for cantaloupes.

Influences on the Fruit Industry

• Canning and Frozen Foods

• Rise in Production Costs

• Lack of Water• Winter Freezes (1949,

1951, 1983, 1989)

Nuts

• Pecans are the only commercially grown nut in Texas.

• By 1914 all but 8 counties reported growing pecan trees.

• Exported to North and East primarily to shellers and candy makers.

• Mechanical shakers with sheets or sweep machines.

• $50,000,000 in cash receipts.

Jobs in the Texas Jobs in the Texas Green IndustryGreen Industry

Education & ResearchEducation & Research

• Horticulture teacher/professor

• Molecular biologist• Research associate• Author• Restoration ecologist• Extension agent

Linda ZhangMolecular Biologist

Exelixis Pharmaceutical Inc

Arborculture/ForestryArborculture/Forestry

• Tree trimmer• Tree maintenance• Tree mover• Logging• Lumber plant

Greenhouse/Nursery ManagementGreenhouse/Nursery Management

• Greenhouse• manager• Grafting • specialist• Propagation• harvester• Marketing/

sales Greenhouse employee at Fernlea Flowers;

Ontario, Canada

IrrigationIrrigation•Installation technician

•Service technician

•Designer

•Project foreman

•Engineer

LandscapingLandscaping

•Horticulturist

•Landscape designer

•Landscape development

•Entrepreneur

•Landscape maintenance

•Landscape architecture

•Landscape supplier

Sales/ MarketingSales/ Marketing•Sales representative

•Field sales

•Agronomist

•Technical info manager

Michael Lee Sales RepresentativeBailey Nurseries Inc.

St. Marys, OhioBS 1977 Horticulture

TurfgrassTurfgrass •Supervisor of grounds

•Golf course/country club

•Professional football

•Professional baseball

•College Sports

•Maintenance

•EntrepreneurDavid MellorDirector of Grounds

Fenway ParkBoston Red Sox Baseball Club

Tie It In…

Food for Thought…A snail walks into a car dealership and asks to buy a Volkswagen Beetle with an S painted on the side of it….the car dealer obliges and sells the car to the snail, but asks, “Why the S on the side?” The snail replies, “So when I am driving down the road, people will say, ‘Hey, look at that…’”

Works Cited• Anderson, Carl G. and Caroline S. Gleaton. “Facts About Texas and U.S.

Agriculture.” Texas Cooperative Extension. Apr. 2003. Texas A&M Universiy. Apr. 2004. http://agecoext.tamu.edu/publicatons/facts/facts03/allpages.pdf

• “Citrus Fruit Culture.” The Handbook of Texas Online. July 2001. The Texas State Historical Association. Apr. 2004. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/afc1.html

• “Fruits Other Than Citrus.” The Handbook of Texas Online. July 2001. The Texas State Historical Association. Apr. 2004. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/FF.aff1.html

• “The Economic Scope of the Green Industry”. October 2003. http://www.txnla.org/pdf_files/Scope_03.pdf

• “Snare Search Conference” Vol. 46 – 2001. http://www.sna.org/research/01proceedings/Section1035.html

• “Census of Horticultural Specialities”. March 2004. http://www.usda.gov/nass/events/news/hortcensusnew.htm