The cut flower industry is an emerging agricultural industry in New York State. The purpose of this funded grant was to help cut flower producers gain confidence to determine the cost of producing their flowers and implement new pricing strategies. A cost calculator was developed and shared across New York State to assist growers in determining the cost of growing various cut flowers.
The audience emphasis was beginning specialty crop producers, and women producers. We were successful in interacting with these audience areas. The majority of cut flower producers are women and are beginning farmers. We provided educational experiences to specialty crop producers during the winter cut flower webinar series and the Eastern NY Fruit and Vegetable Expo.
We envisioned more in-person training and more in-depth opportunities to share the calculator with cut flower producers. However, the number of horticultural meetings held across the state was less than anticipated. Thankfully, one regional and one statewide event were successful. While the number of contacts between all events was close to 80 people, we estimate that 25 different individuals made a meaningful attempt to use the calculator.
We successfully achieved several of the program outcomes we included in the grant application, particularly the outcomes that focused on work group involvement. We also successfully developed a reliable working copy of the cost calculator. The targets for calculator development were met. However, it takes time for people to assess the use of and adopt new methods for their business. We are confident that the adoption and use rate would have been higher if we had more time. Yet, some positive outcomes were achieved by some who used the calculator. One is shared in the stories section of this final report.