Final report for ONC22-108
Project Information
Demand for cut flowers has created an outlet for small-scale, limited-resource farmers to provide field-grown flowers for florists, weddings, and other buyers. Conversations with farmers revealed that challenges existed in marketing and promoting their products to buyers who had limited agriculture knowledge of flower seasonality or familiarity only with international cut flower trade.
This project will gather data from farmers on field-grown and high tunnel flower production in Ohio including flower species grown, length of growing season, and bloom availability based on regional differences in Ohio. The deliverable of the grant will be a printed brochure and a searchable database that will be available to growers to use for planning purposes and to educate florists and other buyers on the seasonality of cut flowers.
Sustainable agricultural systems are supported by elements of economic viability, environmental soundness, and social responsibility. Field and tunnel-grown local flowers use less water and have a smaller carbon footprint than most commercially available blooms, which are grown in energy-intensive greenhouses in other countries and rely on refrigerated shipping. The resources generated by this project will help promote more sustainable options to buyers, keep money in local communities, and improve outcomes for flower farmers throughout the region.
The objectives of this project are:
- Generate a digital and printed calendar of seasonal cut flower availability that growers across Ohio can use to provide customers with a resource on seasonal cut flower availability throughout the year.
- Create planting schedules from collected data that growers can use for planning purposes.
- Develop a network of local cut flower producers and generate a list of future extension and research opportunities.
- Develop a carbon footprint comparison between Ohio farms and the existing international model of flower distribution to provide accurate sustainability metrics for marketing and research purposes.
Cooperators
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
- (Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
Research
Central State University Extension partnered with five cut flower growers located in each region of Ohio (NW, SW, S, NE, SE) to collect plant harvest and carbon sequestering data and information in order to build a digital tool and searchable database to educate buyers on the seasonality of cut flowers.
The five partnering cut flower farms collected Plant data in 2022 for the following categories: Crop common name / Genus, Variety, Color, [(A) Annual, 9B) Biennial, or (P) Perennial], Seed Start Date, Potting Up-date, Field Planting Date, [Direct Sown (DS), Transplant (TP), or Other], Crate grown (Yes/No), Type of Growing Media if crate grown, Planting in Protected Culture (yes/No), What kind of Protected culture.
The five partnering cut flower farms collected Harvest data in 2022 for the following categories: Crop, Color, Harvest Date, Harvest Stage, Availability at Harvest (Low increasing, Full Harvest, Low decreasing), Planted in Protected Culture (Yes/No), What kind of Protected Culture, Notes.
The five partnering cut flower farms collected Weekly Observations information for the following categories: Date, Weekly Weather Observations, [Soil Amendments or Fertilizers Applied? What, How, & Which Crops], [Pest control measures, which methods, pests, and crops], and [Disease Control Measures Taken? Which method, disease, and crops?]
In addition, soil samples were collected and analyzed for carbon matter from each of the five partnering farms. This information will be compared with existing data together with additional information that will be collected from our historical collaborating farm partners.
All members of the Central State University Extension team partners completed the university-required IRB training and filed for an IRB question approval and IRB exemption. This process has slowed down the collection data from our historical data collaborating farms. Historical data collection will commence shortly.
The Central State University Extension has been reviewing proposals for the development of the digital tool and database. Once we have selected a proposal that meets the needs of the grant partners we will commission the development of the web-based digital tool and database.
Soil tests and GPS data points were collected from the partner farms. While the results suggest cut flower production can improve with carbon sequestration, more research and data collection are needed to support this theory in a more comprehensive study. The existing literature on Life Cycle Analysis in the cut flower industry, particularly Swinn (2017), suggests that field-grown local flowers have a carbon footprint 10-25% of that of imported flowers, but this result is highly variable by flower type, production method, country of origin, country of sale, and buyer proximity to distribution centers. A detailed life-cycle analysis of particular crops was beyond the scope of this project but this suggests further opportunity for research to promote the sustainability of local cut flowers.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Grower Communication – Central State University Extension participated in a Grower/ Researcher grant program panel at the 2023 OEFFA conference where we shared information with growers on our SARE project. Forty individuals participated in the training event and learned more about the project we are engaged in with information on the proposal, the type of information we are collecting and why, and how the digital tool will be deployed once the project is complete.
At the 2024 OEFFA Conference, 12 farms expressed interest in learning more about the Floral MarketMaker application under development and potential interest in contributing secondary historical data to improve the application results.
In April 2024, a presentation about the MarketMaker application was shared with the Farmer Veteran Coalition Ohio Chapter.
In May 2024, at the CIFT Ag Forum, Central State University Extension will share information to growers and buyers about the Floral MarketMaker application under development and ways that growers and buyers can proactively develop a farm profile in the existing MarketMaker system to improve their market visibility and access to buyers.
In October 2024, a presentation about the FlowersInSeason.com application was given to an audience of 50 as a part of an awards event and later to an audience of 15 as a break-out presentation at the conference. This effort resulted in an honorable mention award.
In November 2024, a poster of the FlowersInSeason.com application was shared with the CSU University Advisory Board.
In January 2025, handouts were provided to farmers from the CSU Extension booth at the CSU Urban Farm Conference to 55 individuals.
In February 2025, a presentation was given about the FlowersInSeason.com application to 25 farmers at the OEFFA Conference. In addition, push cards about the digital application were distributed in the booth.
In March 2025, push cards and poster were a part of a display and information session at the Ohio State Legislature.
In April 2025, push cards were a part of a display and information session at the Central State University Land Grant Open House.
A FlowersInSeason.com poster will be on display at the 2025 National Agriculture County Agents Association conference in Montana.
Learning Outcomes
Farmers increased knowledge of marketing opportunities for cut flower growers through the creation of a grower profile in the Market Maker FlowersInSeason.com application.
Project Outcomes
Central State University Extension has contracted with Food MarketMaker https://foodmarketmaker.com/ to develop a digital application for cut-flower growers using the plant/harvest data collected by the five cut-flower grower partners. The name http://FlowersInSeason.com. This application is similar to the What's in Season application but focuses on cut flowers instead of produce. Buyers, using this application, can project cut flower availability based on grower seed starting data, weather data, and estimated harvest projections. The more cut-flower growers use the tool, the bhttps://flowersinseason.com/etter it will get at predicting cut-flower availability for a region. The application is up and running and available to growers. Currently, 278 Ohio Cut Flower farms have created grower profiles. While the application was developed for Ohio Cut Flower growers, it is available to cut flower growers across the United States, and a total of 1000 farms that grow and sell cut flowers are listed in the application.
We are working on a cut flower seed starting to flower, harvesting calendar. It needs to go through a peer review process before it is published. Once reviewed, the information will be digitally published.
Central State University Extension, because of the SARE Partnership Grant, purchased a MarketMaker hub licensing agreement for the State of Ohio. This gives other Ohio farming-affiliated organizations access to plug into MarketMaker at a reduced rate and benefits all growers who use the MarketMaker application, not just cut-flower growers. In response, the newly formed Farmer Veteran Coalition Ohio Chapter, purchased a plug-in for the regional chapter to help Veteran Farmers register their farms in the MarketMaker database system.
Central State has begun sharing information about the upcoming FlowersInSeason.com MarketMaker Application at events like the 2024 & 2025 OEFFA Conference, CIFT May 2024 Ag Forum, the 2024 National Ag Summit, and the upcoming 2025 National Agriculture County Agents Association Conference.
Several workshops to train growers to create a farm profile in FlowersInSeason.com have resulted in an increase in cut flower grower market awareness.
This project has generated a lot of data on cut flower production, as well as, the carbon footprint associated with Ohio Cut Flower Production Systems. While the focus of this SARE grant was to develop a digital tool to help Buyers and Cut Flower Growers communicate cut flower availability, there may be ways to analyze the data to improve cut flower production systems.