Progress report for WPDP23-008
Project Information
Cut flowers are a rapidly growing and dynamic crop that attract new, underrepresented demographics to agriculture and redefine the profit potential for small farms. Utah has 135 known farms and a Utah Cut Flower Farm Association (established 2019) with 141 members. Cut flowers require a high level of expertise to produce and are challenging to grow in Utah’s high-elevation and arid to semi-arid climate that results in long winters, strong temperature variation, intense solar radiation, alkaline soils, and water limitations. Most cultivation guides come from states with nearly opposite growing conditions and following these recommendations, or popular social media content, can reduce yield potential and degrade long term soil sustainability and health, both of which reduce farm economic viability. To address this, Utah State University began a cut flower crop production program in 2018. Research and extension outreach focus on basic to advanced topics, from trialing crops and cultivars for local adaptation; optimizing season extension; local management of nutrients, soil, water, and pests; to market needs and enterprise budgets.
The need now exists to compile, organize, and expand upon these multidisciplinary resources by creating a comprehensive Utah Cut Flower Production Guide. This 12-chapter guidebook will be available in multiple formats (paperback, downloadable PDF, and an interactive Extension webpage). It will cover key topics from planning a flower farm; to sustainable soil, nutrient, and water management; integrated pest and disease management and safety; crop-by-crop production requirements; innovative season extension options; and marketing decisions that strengthen agricultural competitiveness. We will also host Train-the-Trainer events to provide an overview to extension agents, who face exceptional demand at the county level, and experienced farmers, who offer cut flower farming classes in their communities. This project creates a needed, science-based and regionally-appropriate tool and trainings that further sustainable and profitable cut flower production in Utah.
To serve the intensifying needs of cut flower farming across Utah, the objectives of this project include:
- Streamline and expand upon existing cut flower crop and small farm management resources in Cooperative Extension by creating The Utah Cut Flower Production Guide in 2023 to 2025. Release the comprehensive and accessible, go-to guidebook for Utah by early 2026.
- Increase the number of trained personnel, particularly at the county level, to serve as community educators with science-based content for and knowledge on cut flower farming by 2026.
- Amplify the reach and convenience of university content to provide alternatives to widely-circulating, non-professional recommendations for flower farming. Utilize social media with a minimum of 20 posts from 2023 to 2026.
- Ensure a continued relevance, timeliness, and understanding of emerging needs of cut flower growers and agricultural professionals through evaluations of topics, impact, and usability across groups from 2023 to 2026.
Years 1-2 focus on developing The Utah Cut Flower Production Guide and Year 3 focuses on trainings, outreach, and promoting the guidebook (see Gantt Chart). Social media outreach and surveys will be conducted across years. Major milestones and outcomes include:
- Sep–Nov 2023: The book chapter topics will be outlined.
- Nov 2023: Input will be gathered from stakeholder panels and chapter titles will be formalized. We estimate 5-10 experienced farmers and 4-6 county agents will serve. Outcome: increased relevance and buy-in from users.
- Oct 2023-Feb 2024 & Oct 2024-Feb 2025: Existing resources for the guidebook will be compiled and adapted. Additional research and writing needs will be identified and divided among the project team by subject matter. Outcome: existing information will have new use and impact.
- Jun 2024-Oct 2025: Research (e.g., literature reviews, meta-analyses) to supplement gaps in extension resources will be conducted and drafted for the extension audience. Media will be created (e.g., demonstrative field pictures) where needed. Outcome: new, up-to-date content will be created.
- Oct 2025-Jan 2026: The guide will be edited, formatted, and finalized (Jan) as a printed book (250 copies), downloadable PDF, and interactive webpage. Outcome: a comprehensive, one-of-a-kind, accessible, regional resource will be available.
- Feb-June 2026: Train-the-Trainer and farmer outreach events. At 1) USU Extension Annual Conference we expect 20 participants; 2) Washington County, we expect 25 participants; and 3) Davis County we expect 60 participants. We will also share our guidebook at the Utah Urban and Small Farms Conference that attracts 60 in-person or 200 remote participants per year (format alternates) and a Utah Cut Flower Farm Association Blooming Zoom that attracts 15 participants. Outcome: we expect to reach 20 agents and 150 farmer participants, increase the knowledge of 15 agents and 75 farmers, with implementation of new ideas by 40 farmers.
Cooperators
- - Producer
Education
The overall goal of this project is to create a production guidebook for cut flower crops in Utah. Within this, our first approach is to identify existing resources that can be consolidated into the book, as well as gaps in content that need research and development. The second step is to develop this new content, while incorporating stakeholder feedback on topic priorities. An innovative aspect of this project is the strong farmer engagement and participation. Not only are cut flower farmers responding to surveys to define topics, but they are also involved in content development, from submitting photos from their farms to authoring and editing for approachability, as well as providing their research and trusted sources, often from industry and other farms. This ensures our science-based content is accessible, has farm buy-in, and links to relevant and contemporary information the farmers value (that is also scientifically vetted). These resources will then be used to create a guidebook, and we will host train-the-trainer and grower outreach events to promote the guidebook.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Survey Utah cut flower farmers for feedback on guidebook topics to inform priority subject-matter.
Dr. Stock and North Ogden Flower Farm (Mrs. Kellie Webb) developed a survey as a needs assessment for regional cut flower farmers. By bringing together previous academic needs assessments and resources and grower perspective and experiences, the survey covered the following:
- A list of potential chapter topics for participants to rank in order of priority and importance for their farm. A write-in option was also provided for suggestions on additional topics.
- The survey then delved into content areas for each chapter, asking participants to rank each for its need and relevance, as well as space for additional suggestions per chapter.
- We also evaluated preferred guidebook format (interactive website to printed book) and price points for book copies/willing to spend.
- Lastly, we surveyed other sources farmers are turning to for information, what they trust, and open-ended questions regarding challenges on their farm and how a guidebook could help.
The survey was introduced to the farmers at USU's Urban and Small Farms Conference Cut Flowers Session on February 20, 2024. 47 farmers completed the survey, representing about 25% of Utah's cut flower farms. Results were compiled to prioritize content development at this stage, namely, the first three demand classifications. The fourth demand classification reflects the non-regional specific information that is low priority, and likely satisfied by content already available. Vase life by crop, floral design, etc. are not specific to the Intermountain West, and likely have sufficient content from out-of-state. Some of this information was incorporated into production guides, but not focused on as individual content needs.
Write refereed Cooperative Extension fact sheets on priority subject matter, as identified by state growers, that will then be used to build guidebook chapters.
We researched and developed content for the top three demand areas, first by publishing refereed Cooperative Extension fact sheets. Each fact sheet provides succinct and detailed information per subject matter. This allows for incremental knowledge building, and information sharing before the guidebook is published. Each fact sheet will then be combined with existing fact sheets to create a comprehensive guidebook that covers priority areas.
From the survey, we focused on developing topics in the top three demand areas.
In 2024, we created and published the following refereed Cooperative Extension outputs, which are also listed in project outputs: 1 Cooperative Extension fact sheet on pest management of cut flowers, the first produced on pests for flower crops at USU. Published in Dec 2024, it had already been downloaded over 200 times. We also researched, wrote, and published 3 crop production fact sheets, which detail seed starting, soil and water management, and season extension. They were published from June to Nov 2024 and cumulatively have 526 downloads. Lastly, three marketing fact sheets were also researched and published in August 2024 that have a total of 225 downloads. Together, these 7 new fact sheets published in 2024 have been downloaded 972 times. Some have also been converted into HTML websites, of which traffic has not been recorded.
We have also drafted 9 more production fact sheets; we anticipate 7 will be published by fall 2025. We drafted two irrigation fact sheets and one irrigation calculator that we anticipate will be published by winter 2025. We also drafted look-up tables of pests of cut flowers that summarize our scouting efforts to date (e.g., which pests affect which families of cut flowers, as confirmed by the literature and our on-farm scouting), a pesticide table, and descriptions of IPM strategies.
These fact sheets add to USU's cut flower resources base, and will be consolidated with the tables into the guidebook. As a result, we have developed significant new content for the guidebook.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
This project facilitated content development and dissemination, though most dissemination will occur in the last years. A key innovative aspect to the project is the level of farmer engagement at each step. We began with a needs assessment that was developed between USU and a cut flower farmers who we hired on as an editor. The needs assessment received feedback from 25% of Utah cut flower growers, which informed content needs and demand.
From the needs assessment of Utah growers, we prioritized content development areas based on demand feedback. Priority areas included:
- Planning a farm and Soil management
- Crop-specific production information including seed starting/propagation, and irrigation management
- Season extension, pests and disease, and markets
- Post-harvest methods, recommended equipment and tools, floral design tips, and applying production information to other regional conditions.
From this, the main achievements in 2024 included research and development of content, largely in the form of refereed Cooperative Extension fact sheets that will be compiled into the production guide. In 2024, we published 3 new production guides that detail steps from seed starting to soil and water management to key pests and disease, and market preferences with optimizing crop performance in Utah. We also drafted an additional nine new crops and anticipate 7 will be published in 2025 before being compiled into the book. In addition to production guides, we published one fact sheet dedicated to pest management of cut flower crops, the first at USU. Despite being published in December 2024 - in the middle of winter (non-growing season) and only 4 months ago, it has been downloaded over 200 times, reiterating the demand for this information. Per scouting trips on farms and through research, we developed a pests table for the guidebook that will serve as a look-up reference on pests to be aware of by cut flower crop in Utah. We also drafted two irrigation management fact sheets and one calculator that we anticipate for publication in late 2025 to early 2026, and to be incorporated into the guidebook. Lastly, three marketing fact sheets for cut flowers were also released in 2024 that showcase findings from surveys with industry to help farmers understand barriers and needs. Of these published fact sheets in 2024, we received a total of 972 unique downloads.
We delivered one presentation to growers on the guidebook in February 2024 to introduce the project and receive feedback on content. This was delivered at the 2024 Urban and Small Farms Conference, Cut Flowers Session on 2/20/24. We received 49 responses to our survey on the talk, which showed 32 increased their knowledge as a result. We also provided outreach through a farm tour in September 25, 2024, in which 30 cut flower farmers participated. Of the 13 responses to our survey, 12 increased their knowledge and 13 planned to use the information within a year. Lastly, we presented at the Utah Cut Flower Farm Association's Winter Conference on February 1, 2025. Of the 150 attendees, 91 responded to our survey, and 75 gained knowledge and 90 planned to apply the information they learned.
Information Products
- Pest Management for Utah Cut Flower Production: Insects and their Relatives
- Bells of Ireland Cut Flower Production in Utah
- Echinacea Cut Flower Production in Utah
- Dusty Miller Cut Foliage Production in Utah
- Intermountain West Wholesale Cut Flower Buyer Market Analysis
- Intermountain West Florist Local Cut Flower Sourcing Preferences
- Intermountain West Florist Market Overview and Outlook