State of the Media 2013

In 2011, Greenhouse Management began surveying growers regarding the types of growing media mixes they use and the amount of money they spend on them annually. This year, we did the same, and here we benchmark the most recent survey results against last year’s to see what changes took place throughout the last 12 months.

Certainly, selecting the right growing media remains one of the most significant factors impacting the overall success of your growing operation — and your bottom line. Whether you purchase standard mixes or custom-made mixes from manufacturers or you mix your own in-house, the labor and cost involved with procuring and handling growing media remains top of mind for growers all over North America.

Interestingly, this year’s survey indicates that more of you are spending less than $25,000 annually on growing media. A little more than 74 percent of you stated that you spend this amount on growing media in this year’s survey, compared with only 43.6 percent last year. When it comes to annual peat expenses, 87 percent of survey respondents said they spend less than $25,000 annually, compared with 69.9 percent in 2012.
 

MEDIA VARIETIES: 1)  Custom mix of organic yard waste: old mulch, sod, leaf hummus, sand composted and screened courtesy Frank’s Landscape & Materials, Richfield, Ohio. 2)  Michigan Peat Bark 1000 courtesy Dean’s Greenhouse, Westlake, Ohio. 3)  Standard Peat courtesy Maria Gardens, North Royalton, Ohio. 4)  Farfard Growing Mix 2 Professional Formula courtesy L Ross Greenhouse, North Royalton, Ohio.

“There has been a decrease in the amount of crops grown for speculation,” says Ed Bloodnick, product development director for Premier Tech Horticulture. “Growers are working closer with their customers to grow specifically for their needs. This translates to less overall crops grown, but what they do grow is definitely sold. Less risk of unsold crops … but the production numbers are down a bit, which means less peat purchased.”

Tommy Wurst, marketing manager for Sun Gro Horticulture, says his company saw a slight shift in growers’ buying habits last year, which may have impacted their annual spending numbers. “Last fall, we saw an increase of growers taking advantage of the fall booking programs over previous years, so this could just be a shift in their annual spend from one year to another. Growers purchased their 2012 and part of their 2013 needs in the same year,” he explains.
 

Regarding money spent on purchasing peat specifically, “Growers have begun to look at alternatives to peat, based on availability,” says John Bonin, manager of business development and territory sales-professional grower division at Jiffy Products of America. “One example is coir. Having a reliable coir source with RHP requirements ensures the proper desired levels of potassium, sodium and calcium ratios are present. Coir that bears the RHP quality mark is safe for users, and it has been proven to be a better additive in growing media and acts as a natural wetting agent.”

This year, growers’ experimentation with coir as a growing mix component increased from 2012; 47 percent say they are experimenting with coir these days, and in 2012 40.2 percent said they were. Bloodnick attributes this to coir’s specific advantages.

“There are some advantages to using different types of coir fiber and particle sizes,” Bloodnick explains. “Used like an aggregate, coir can be cut and graded into specific particle sizes to enhance the structure of the growing media. Coir is resilient, difficult to crush and maintains its integrity to provide good aeration and water-holding properties for long-term crops.”

Wurst says that geographic location plays a role in who is experimenting with coir and who isn’t. “Geography plays a role in both rice hulls and coir, as the further south you get in North America the more expensive Canadian peat products become (freight-related), and these other products such as coir and rice hulls then become more cost competitive,” he says.

Addressing issues
Greenhouse Management also asked growers to identify the biggest issues they face when it comes to growing media. This year, 29.4 percent said that receiving inconsistent product from manufacturers is their biggest issue. In 2012, 32.3 percent said this problem was their largest. The manufacturers we spoke with relate this decrease to their companies’ diligence with regard to delivering a quality product.

“I know we work very hard at Premier Tech Horticulture to maintain the highest level of quality and consistency of our products in our Quality Assurance program,” Bloodnick says. “We use stringent testing and monitoring to be sure we deliver our products to the specifications so that growers have a product that will do the job.”

Adds Bonin, “With our worldwide systems of quality control, including RHP coir and blends of European and Canadian peat, we have been able to improve our selection of input to deliver a product with finely tuned fiber lengths, water-holding capacity and physical structure with a unique starter charge. This allows Jiffy to produce a consistent, high-quality growing mix each and every time.”

Wurst says that past availability of raw materials might play a role. “When the industry experienced a significant peat shortage in 2011, peat was brought in from Europe to supplement the North American peat moss supplies. This was a good strategy, but it also introduced some variability as the peat from Europe can be of varying quality.

“Sun Gro tests all peat most utilized in mixes for consistency, and we are able to provide a more consistent end product due to the processes we have in place,” Wurst adds. “As an industry, we continue to make strides every year in improving monitoring, testing and quality-control functions to improve the consistency of products sold to growers.”

About the same percentage of growers indicated that fluctuating prices were their main concern both this year and last year. Bloodnick attributes this ongoing price fluctuation to transportation costs.

“In a global perspective, a major part of fluctuating prices is due to transportation costs related to fuel and dollar exchange rates,” he says. “Whether a product is coming from Canada or coconut coir from Asia or product from Europe, fuel and exchange rates have a direct impact.”

Wurst agrees. “Factors such as transportation costs and energy costs in the production of products are playing a major factor in pricing fluctuations. As an industry, we frequently absorb these higher costs until it is no longer economically possible, and then pass the increases to the customers in the form of price increases or transportation surcharges.”

A question of customization
This year, 45.5 percent of surveyed growers said that they are purchasing/using only standard growing media mixes from their manufacturers. In 2012, 35.7 percent said the same. Bloodnick says today’s standard mixes perform consistently and meet the requirements for many crops.

“Standard mixes have a purpose and do a great job,” he says. “They answer the basic needs, and all mix manufacturers produce standard products. There is a place for some custom-made mixes for specific applications, but the standard growing media blends are readily available and they work well.”

Similarly, only 13.6 percent of growers said they purchase custom mixes from manufacturers this year, while in 2012 24.1 percent said they did. In addition to standard mixes’ consistency and reliability, the reason for this rests on manufacturers’ increasingly diverse product offerings, Bloodnick says.

“Growing media manufacturers are offering a greater variety of blends than in the past,” he says. “What may have been custom mixes in the past are working their way into the product line … I believe it is a case that manufacturers are offering a wider selection of growing media products for growers today.”
 

This year, 25.5 percent of growers said they are preparing their mixes in house, compared with only 17 percent in 2012. Bloodnick says the increase in the result of the economy.

“I believe this coincides with the economy crunch and the efforts of growers to cut costs by mixing their own,” he says. “Growers are looking for all different ways to economize and reduce costs. But when you add the cost of the machinery, labor, raw materials, etc. to mix your own, it might be cheaper to buy a preformulated blend. We have a great cost calculator tool on our website (www.pthorticulture.com) that growers can use to calculate the costs of mixing their own. I would encourage readers that are mixing their own to try it to calculate their costs.”

All in all, the state of growing media in North America is strong, with fewer growers citing inconsistency of product from manufacturers as their main concern. That’s good news for manufacturers, of course, but it’s good news for growers too, as they continue to find ways to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their operations by using high-quality, reliable products for growing.