The PEN

Combining forces

The Sun Gro acquisition of Fafard should benefit growers

By Kristy J. O’Hara

It’s been about two months since news broke that Sun Gro Horticulture Ltd. would acquire Syngenta’s Fafard growing media business, which had sales of $88 million in 2011. With any acquisition of this size, it means a lot of work to integrate the organizations and ensure it’s a successful endeavor.

Greenhouse Management spoke with Sun Gro’s corporate communications manager, Derek Fee, about what the acquisition means for the company as well as for you as a grower.

What does the acquisition mean for Sun Gro?
From Sun Gro’s perspective, it’s a an acquisition that’s very important in terms of the tremendous assets that will become a part of the amalgamated company — it’s increased production facilities, increased distribution facilities, increased business opportunities, synergies relative to the overall customer service picture for the company’s clientele. Those are all key assets, and certainly not on a secondary level, it’s a tremendously well-respected brand in Fafard and a work force that has a deep base of knowledge and experience within the industry.

Will Sun Gro keep the Fafard brand or will it be assimilated into Sun Gro’s brands?
The intention is that the Fafard brand will continue to be a separate brand entity within the industry.

How will this acquisition impact growers?
From the industry standpoint, the acquisition is good news. It serves to provide an opportunity to better serve the customer base from Sun Gro’s perspective. It offers an opportunity to seek the types of synergies that will allow for a leaner operation that can better serve customers and keep its overhead down and be able to pass along such cost savings to consumers in the long run. It allows the Fafard brand to continue to be contained within an ownership group that has a knowledge and experience within the industry and ultimately it will benefit of customers of both companies alike.

In the initial phase, it’s not going to have a tremendous impact on growers. There will obviously be some situations where amalgamation of facilities may make sense, but no decisions have been made along the lines of what that may look like yet, but certainly everyone’s committed to making the process as seamless as possible for the customer base of both companies.

In the longer term, as the two companies become assimilated and we’re able to realize some benefits in terms of streamlining administration, it will ultimately mean better service levels and opportunities to better serve customers in the long run.

How does Sun Gro see that as a possibility?
Whenever you have the additional production capacity available to you, you’re able to be more nimble in terms of meeting customer demand. Often times, when you have this kind of acquisition you’re able to realize some benefits in terms of being able to amalgamate customer service offices or bring time and cost savings to an operation, which benefit the consumer.

What’s the timeline for the integration process?
The assessment phase has already begun but there isn’t a set timeline — nobody has said it will all be done by X. It takes time. It’s two fairly large companies within the industry coming together, and it will take some time to make those assessments and make decisions that will make good sense not just for the company, but for the customers and the industry.

From a logistics standpoint, a lot of that work started essentially the day the announcement crossed the wire. In the initial phase, there are a number of things that need to be done from a logistical standpoint to make sure all the nuts and bolts are in place to properly serve the employee base — getting people on payrolls and benefits issues and getting the IT systems aligned and that sort of thing. That’s the initial phase, and that’s the period during which there won’t be a tremendous change in terms of the operation as it’s seen by the growers and the customer base because they’ll continue to exist as parallel entities until we get through that. Then at that point, the leadership team will have to assess and see what other steps will have to be taken in terms of facility management that may require some changes to the administration.
 

Hortica celebrates 125 years

Hortica Insurance & Employee Benefits, a niche specific mutual company serving horticultural businesses across the U.S., is celebrating 125 years in business. Founded on June 1, 1887, and initially named “Florists’ Hail Association of America,” Hortica has evolved into a comprehensive insurance company that guides and provides solutions for retail florists, garden centers, nurseries, landscape contractors, greenhouse growers, wholesale floral distributors and interior plantscapers.

Hortica celebrated its125th anniversary with several events during the month of June at its corporate headquarters in Edwardsville, Ill.

For more: www.hortica-insurance.com

PMA commends Senate for passing 2012 farm bill

Bryan Silbermann, president and CEO of the Produce Marketing Association, issued a statement in response to the U.S. Senate’s passage of the 2012 farm bill commending the senate for their action. He credited Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and chair of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, for her continued breakthroughs for specialty crops made in the last farm bill. He also said the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance deserves recognition for successfully advocating for the inclusion of programs targeted to the needs of produce and other specialty crops.

For more: www.pma.com 

Late blight spotted on tomatoes in Northeast

Late blight is becoming a threat to tomato growers again this year as the pathogen is being spotted in several locations across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. In 2009, the pathogen spread throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, wiping out tomato and potato crops.

Although it’s mostly been commercial production fields that have been hit, greenhouses and home gardeners should be vigilant as well.

The recent warm weather has been helping to slow the spread since the disease does best in cool, wet conditions in the high 60°Fs. Warm weather will not kill late blight, only stop it from infecting other plants as quickly.

Growers should be on the lookout for brown spots on fruit and fuzzy growth on the underside of leaves. Other signs are pale green leaves and long brown lesions on the stems.

To prevent late blight, growers can apply protectant fungicides, or, for organic growers, copper products can be used.

For more: www.usablight.org

Terra Nova Nurseries partners with Blooms of Bressingham

Terra Nova Nurseries and Blooms of Bressingham have entered into a licensing agreement to breed, grow and co-brand five new plant varieties in the form of liners. The partnership incorporates five introductions intended to expand both companies’ product offerings to professional grower customers.

Included in the collaboration is a new collection called the Echinacea Supreme series, which features ‘Supreme Cantaloupe,’ ‘Supreme Elegance’ and ‘Supreme Flamingo.’ The licensing agreement also includes Heucherella ‘Cracked Ice’ and Heucherella ‘Buttered Rum.’

Terra Nova Nurseries will exclusively grow and sell the new varieties for the first year of the program. Blooms of Bressingham’s licensed propagators will build supply in anticipation of increased demand for year two. The agreement terms also include a plan to introduce and supply the varieties to growers in Europe and Japan during the second year.

New sales opportunities will be created for growers, and a more diverse inventory of varieties will be available to garden center retailers.

For more: www.terranovanurseries.com or www.bloomsofbressinghamplants.com 
 

Grodan Group opens production line in North America

The Grodan Group, part of the Rockwool Group and supplier of sustainable stone wool substrate, is expanding its production space with the opening of a new production line in North America, located at the Roxul Inc. factory in Milton, Canada. The new, state-of-the-art production line will allow Grodan to respond faster to specific customer needs in the North American market and minimize delivery lead time. Producing products in North America will reduce the distance of transporting products to customers, which will minimize yearly freight between Europe and North America and lead to a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. This specific line will produce slabs for the professional horticulture industry. 

Nine jobs have been created since the installment of the production line, and another 18 jobs are expected to open during the course of this year. Production on the new line will start in July.

For more: www.grodan.com
 

Gladiolus Rust confirmed in Florida county

Detection of Gladiolus Rust was confirmed in Manatee County, Fla., in May. The North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) posted an alert on the confirmation of the disease in June. 

Growers in Florida who are concerned about a potential Gladiolus Rust detection can contact the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services – Division of Plant Industry (FDACS-DPI) or a University of Florida extension plant disease clinic. The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) will report any suspect positive samples to FDACS-DPI. 

The USDA –APHIS-PPQ considers Gladiolus Rust as a plant pathogen that is present but under official control. 

For more: 1.usa.gov/L5g933
 

Purdue study examines LEDs on greenhouse-grown vegetables

Purdue University Professor Cary A. Mitchell is working with graduate student Celina Gomez on a study which could impact how growers view supplemental lighting for the growth of greenhouse-grown vegetables.  The study examines the impact of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the propagation and production of greenhouse-grown vegetables. They are utilizing steadyGROWpro soilless media and no longer have algae issues they experienced with their original substrate. 

One study involves evaluating LEDs as an alternative lighting source for the propagation of greenhouse-grown tomatoes, testing six cultivars. 

A second extensive study involves looking at comparing growth, yield and fruit biomass production per kW-h of energy consumed.  It will measure fruit quality for two tomato cultivars grown with no supplemental lighting, under overhead HPS lamps or with intra-canopy LED (95 percent red and 5 percent blue) supplemental lighting. 

For more: www.agriculture.purdue.edu
 

Kieft Seed accepts 2013 All-America Selections award

Kieft Seed announced its acceptance of a 2013 All-America Selections award for Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit, a first-year flowering perennial with vibrant coloring. Cheyenne Spirit’s performance achieved high scores from 37 All-America Selections trialing stations across North America. 

Bred in Elburn, Ill., by PanAmerican Seed and Kieft Seed plant breeder Ping Ren, Cheyenne Spirit has shades of red, orange, purple, scarlet, cream, yellow and white in a segregated mix. Its genetics have a good branching habit for more flowers on every plant, creating high-impact landscapes and fuller containers. 

As a 2013 AAS winner, seed for Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit is available now for immediate sale.

For more: www.kieftseed.com