VNLA News - Winter 2022

OPENING DOORS

It

doesn’t seem possible, but 2022 is winding down. Wow! It seems like time flew by and we did not get everything accomplished that we intended, but that is okay. Anyone else feel the same? On the other hand, the VNLA is getting things done. Yes, the Virginia Certified Hor ticulturist (VCH) exam is now available at Pearson Vue Test ing Centers. This is a major accomplishment. Now, during all twelve months of the year, folks can register for and schedule to take the VCH exam on a date and at a location that is con venient for them. This value-added change and achievement are an outcome from a tremendous effort and commitment from the VNLA’s executive director and:

Neal Beasley Timmons Group VNLA Board Member VCH Certification Committee Chair

David Seward Reynolds Community College VNLA Board Member VCH Certification Committee

Dr. Laurie Fox Hampton Roads AREC VNLA Board Member VCH Certification Committee

The transition of the VCH exam to Pearson Testing Centers streamlines the VCH process. It opens the door for others to ad vance in their green-industry profession through achieving and maintaining a VNLA Virginia Certified Horticulturist credential. The success of the VNLA’s 2022 Field Day energized the Field Day planning committee to start the process for 2023. Virginia Tech is the 2023 Field Day location and the dates are August 3 and 4, 2023. Save the dates and please mark your calendars now. More details to come…

MANTS is back and promises to be bigger and better than ever. I am certain our profession is engaged with this event and anxious to get back out and see and meet folks in per son. Remember to book your hotel accommodations ONLY through the MANTS site. www.mants.com/attendees/ Finally, I want to thank all of the VNLA Board Members and those on or in charge of committees. Without your com mitment to this organization and its success, the VNLA would not exist. We need more VNLA members to step up for 2023. If you have a recommendation for board members or would like to consider serving on the VNLA Board yourself, now is the time. It is a great organization with members and leaders who have a passion for this industry and know the impor tance of the VNLA in representing us.

Jeff Howe VNLA President

The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, its staff, or its board of directors, VNLA News, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication. Copyright © 2022 by the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. VNLA News is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. Third-class postage is paid at Jefferson City, MO. Printed in the U.S.A. Reprints and Submissions: VNLA News allows re- printing of material. Permission requests should be directed to the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.

CALL TO ACTION: Senate Agricultural Workforce Reform

By Sara Neagu-Reed

Congressional Members are back home for the month of Octo ber. AmericanHort leaders and members continue stepping up to convince the Senate to act on agricultural workforce reform before this Congressional session ends. Sens. Mike Crapo (RID) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have made significant progress negotiating a Senate version of the Farm Workforce Moderniza tion Act of 2021. The AmericanHort advocacy team encourages you to take a moment and send an email message to your two U.S. Senators urging their support for action on this legislative priority, which will bring greater workforce stability, H-2A cer tainty, and access. You can easily send a pre-drafted email to your two Senators, elevating the importance of reform and urg ing their support for the ongoing efforts.

Email your elected officials using the form here: http://takeaction.americanhort.org/ landing-pages/senateagreform

Also, various groups collaborating on agricultural workforce reform will be supporting Congressional advocacy in Washing ton during the week of November 14. If you are interested in more details as they develop, please contact Sara Neagu-Reed at saranr@amiercanhort.org •

Despite the productive, albeit brief, September session, law makers returning home this week are leaving behind a lengthy legislative to-do list, setting up an extremely busy lame duck session. Atop the list, the House and Senate must a complete budget deal for the Fiscal Year 2023, setting overall spending levels and reconciling differences in their respective spending bills introduced earlier this year.

In spring, AmericanHort advocated to increase funding for the Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative, our sector’s dedicat ed research program. The House proposed a 20 percent increase while the Senate proposed a 28 percent increase. Reconciling the difference is a key focus of advocacy efforts over the next year.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate also disagree on funding levels for the IR-4 project, another industry priority line item that funds data collection to support the registration of crop protection tools for our growers. The House supported a modest 4 percent increase to account for inflationary pressures research costs, while the Senate continued funding at the prior year level.

Led by H-2B Workforce Coalition, which AmericanHort cochairs, further compromise favorable to our industry is sought on H-2B cap relief. While grassroots efforts continue in support of permanent cap relief, the House and Senate proposals include language enabling the release of supplemental visas, though the House bill includes streamlining language to make additional visas available earlier in the season.

What to Watch in Congress’ Lame Duck Session

By Evan Lee

With the fall campaign season underway, Congress stands in recess through the midterm election. A stopgap funding bill enacted on September 30 keeps the federal government open through December 16 as we roll into the new fiscal year. The measure’s other highlights include $12 billion for Ukraine as sistance, emergency assistance for Jackson, Mississippi’s water crisis, and wildfire relief for New Mexico.

The budget agreement is likely to become the last train leaving the station before the new Congress is sworn in, meaning law makers will try to hook onto it several other legislative priorities. The universe of possibilities is ever-expanding, but AmericanHort will monitor developments and engage closely on two fronts. First is additional agricultural disaster relief for 2022, which would in clude nursery and floriculture growers hit hard by Hurricane Ian. Second, is a final version of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, pivotal H-2A and workforce stabilization reform for which a Senate compromise is under development by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) (read more about this effort in Call to Action: Senate Agricultural Workforce Reform.)

The phrase “lame duck” entered the American lexicon to describe politicians, whom after electoral defeat or retirement, lose influence or become apathetic in the waning days of their tenures. With the stage set for a consequential close to the 117th Congress, the term perhaps doesn’t quite fit in 2022. •

Sara Neagu-Reed is Director of Advocacy and Government Relations at AmericanHort.

Evan Lee is Director of Policy and Government Relations at AmericanHort.

USDA Farm Workforce Pilot Program

By Sara Neagu-Reed

Earlier this summer, USDA announced the development of a pilot program to help producers facing labor scarcity and reduce irregular migration from certain Central American countries. Tapping into $65 million from the American Rescue Plan, the depart ment plans to incentivize employers to employ H-2A workers from Hondu ras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Key details remain to be decided, includ ing what incentives might motivate employers, what additional labor pro tections might be included, and the nature of the role of the United Farm Workers (UFW), which will provide technical assistance through a cooper ative agreement with the department. Last week, USDA announced it would begin gathering input to help shape this pilot program. The Farm Service agency (FSA) held three virtu al listening sessions for the new farm labor stabilization and protection pi lot grant program. The listening ses sion aimed at agricultural employer organizations sought input on:

• Challenges that employers face in securing a stable workforce.

• The set of incentives that employ ers seek from USDA in order to im prove their ability to hire workers from northern Central American countries under the seasonal H-2A visa program.

• The labor standards that will make meaningful progress towards en suring a safer and fairer working environment for both domestic and H-2A farmworkers.

AmericanHort staff provided com ments during the listening session fo cused on access for jobs in the green industry blocked from H-2A due to their “non-seasonal” nature. FSA will also consider comments received 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. Find more de tails at fsa.usda.gov/farmworkers •

Hurricane Ian and Sunshine State Horticulture

By Craig Regelbrugge

Recovery efforts continue in the wake of high-end category 4 Hurricane Ian’s Florida landfall and rampage, as do efforts to tally the loss of life and economic damage. Our partners at the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association report ex tensive damage in the hardest-hit Lee, Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto Counties, with scattered and still significant damage elsewhere. Economist Elliot Eisenberg estimates that uninsured losses from Hurricane Ian probably total $40-$50 billion includ ing infrastructure damage and cleanup costs. Insured losses are estimated at another $65 billion. Both Florida and U.S. secondhalf 2022 gross domestic product will take a hit, but recovery will spur growth in 2023. And, further disaster assistance will be on the table in the post-election session of Congress. •

EPA Withdraws Glyphosate Interim Decision

By Laurie Flanagan

On September 23, the U.S. EPA announced its withdrawal of all remaining portions of its Interim Decision (ID) review decision for glyphosate.

https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ epa-withdraws-glyphosate-interim-decision

Registered glyphosate products are unaffected by this with drawal and pesticide products containing glyphosate may con tinue to be used according to the product label and remain on the market. EPA stands firmly behind the findings of its 2020 Interim Decision (https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesti cide-products/glyphosate) but this action underlines the com plexity of the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Glyphosate, a widely used broad-spectrum herbicide, is in the process of registration review, a routine reevaluation of pesticide registrations to ensure that current pesticide products are still in line with their intended use without unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment.

Under FIFRA, these reviews are done every 15 years. On February 3, 2020, EPA published its Interim Decision (ID) that detailed that EPA had not identified any human health risks of concern from exposure to glyphosate but did identify potential ecological risks. This ID was challenged by a National Resource Defense Council-led group in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit two months after it was published. On June 17, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the human health portion of the glyphosate ID and held that EPA’s registration review decision under FIFRA was an “action” that triggered ESA obligations. The court also granted EPA’s re quest for voluntary remand, without vacatur, of the ecological portion of the ID but imposed an October 1, 2022, deadline for EPA to issue a new ecological portion.

EPA had communicated to the court that ESA review is per formed in cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife and Na tional Marine Fisheries Services and although the process was initiated in November 2021, it would take several years to com plete, and thus the Agency was unable to finalize a new eco logical position by the October 1, 2022, court-ordered deadline. EPA made its decision to withdraw the glyphosate ID and com plete the full glyphosate registration review by 2026, meeting its obligations under both FIFRA and ESA. A copy of the Agency’s withdrawal and its reasoning can be found here: https://www. regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361-14447 •

Craig Regelbrugge is Executive Vice President Advocacy, Research, & Industry Relations at AmericanHort.

Laurie Flanagan is Executive Vice President at D.C. Legislative and Regulatory Services.

Member Highlight on

THE GARDENER NURSERY

It

all started with a few clippings from the English box woods of Keith Stanley’s uncle. Now, over four decades later, Keith’s plant propagation hobby has blossomed into a thriving retail and wholesale nursery that grows plants by the tens of thousands, run by his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. With its roots still firmly planted in family and community, The Gardener Nursery is continuing to grow as it transitions to third generation leadership and brings time-tested, high-quality plant material to landscapers and garden centers throughout Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic, all while maintaining the same feel of a small family business.

Keith began his journey in propagation with no intention of creating a business. He enjoyed the growing process and would gift his homegrown boxwoods and azaleas to family members when they had need or reached important milestones, like mov ing into a new house. But, over the years, as his backyard plant stock grew, it became clear to Keith and his son, Andy (who at age 14 already had aspirations of joining the family business as an adult), that launching a business was the natural next step. And in 1979, Keith, with the help and support of his wife Janet, founded The Gardener Nursery.

The Gardener Nursery began its operation with a few hun dred small boxwoods and a selection of azaleas so small that they could all be stuffed in the Stanley’s two-car garage when Goochland County experienced a hard freeze in the winter of ‘79. Already well known around town for his green thumb, Keith immediately began landscape projects upon officially opening the business. This new window into plant success and hardiness would later allow him to become a better buyer and grower as he learned firsthand which plants would actually sur vive and thrive in Central Virginia’s climate and soil.

During the first decade of the nursery’s operations, the busi ness experienced slow and gradual growth. Keith continued to expand his propagation program and added greenhouses to his property as necessary. Then, in the fall of 1987, after graduating from Emory & Henry College with a business degree and having worked for Laird’s Nurseries for several summers, Andy joined the company full-time. Andy took over the landscape design, installation and maintenance work, and Keith returned to his roots as the nursery manager.

Andy with the first greenhouse

Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association

Keith and young Cameron

Over the next 35 years, Andy dedicated himself to learning and cultivating timeless and sustainable landscape designs. His pursuit led to the creation of a loyal customer base both for the company’s landscaping division and the nursery, as fellow landscapers, gardeners and retail customers alike learned that they could rely on him to provide the best plant recommenda tions from his years of experience. Today, many customers still visit the nursery to seek Andy’s advice and best practices for landscape installations.

In the early 2000s, Andy’s wife, Shelly, joined The Gardener Nursery, taking over all office operations and modernizing the company’s organizational and scheduling practices. The land scaping business continued to expand with her help, leading to the hiring of brothers Marvin and Maynor as landscape techni cians. As the company became a larger part of Shelly and Andy’s lives, their children, Cameron and Madison, began to spend more time at the nursery, helping with sales and learning about plants and propagation. Cameron quickly began to see his own future in the family business and went away to college to learn everything he would need to become a successful nurseryman. In 2019, after graduating from Bridgewater College with a degree in business, Cameron also joined The Gardener Nursery fulltime, taking over all nursery operations.

Throughout the last three years, the nursery has seen explo sive growth under the direction of Cameron, whose enthusiasm for plants and exceptional customer service continues to bring in new customers. Cameron has expanded both the variety and size of plant material carried at the nursery and container shrub and tree growing operations. In addition, he has started growing boxwoods, shade trees and screening trees at a separate farm in Montpelier, Va. In the coming years, Cameron hopes to increase field grown operations, expand to other farms and start another container nursery. With a high standard for quality landscape plants, he hopes The Gardener Nursery will become a more prominent supplier to landscapers and garden centers all over the East Coast.

Most recently, Keith and Janet’s daughter (and Andy’s sister), Cindy, has joined the company as a customer service specialist, and their granddaughter (Andy and Shelly’s daughter), Madison, has come on board as the head of all communications and public relations. The family has been excited to add on additional team members to meet the increasing need, including Emiley (Assis tant Nursery Manager), Grace (Nursery Associate) and Paul (Delivery Driver).

Today, The Gardener Nursery is the largest it has ever been. While continuing to expand, it has remained grounded in the very fundamentals on which it was founded. From team dynam ics to customer relationships and the greater community at large, The Gardener Nursery persists in treating everyone like family. Customers get the same intentional and personable treatment of a small family-owned business, with the offerings of a larger company, including substantial plant material selections and quick and reliable delivery across the state of Virginia and into the mid-Atlantic. Cameron and his team thoughtfully cultivate strong relationships with growers throughout the Southeast ern United States and West Coast, sourcing hard to find plants.

This, coupled with The Gardener Nursery’s growing production operation, allows Cameron’s team to buffer re-wholesaled stock with produced plant material, adding value and cutting costs on the front-end so savings can be passed along to the nursery’s clients. Increasingly, landscapers and garden center buyers know they can count on The Gardener Nursery to provide them with the healthiest plant stock available in a timely manner and at the best price. Customers know Cameron’s team will do everything they can to help them complete a project, even custom ordering plants the nursery does not currently have on hand. And as ever, they will do so with the warmth of a neighbor or a friend.

Just as Keith began his nurseryman journey so many years ago by gifting his plants to family and friends, The Gardener Nursery also continues this spirit of giving by donating plants to Habitat for Humanity of Goochland County and also to lo cal schools. The Gardener Nursery is also proud to support the local nonprofit Goochland Cares, which provides many impor tant resources to local individuals and families in need. As the company continues to grow, The Gardener Nursery team looks forward to finding new ways to give back and support other families and individuals in the community.

Ready to experience The Gardener Nursery family difference? Give us a call at 804-360-2097 or email Cameron directly at cameron@gardenernursery.com. We look forward to talking, getting to know you and helping your business grow! •

Montpelier Farm

Cameron, Andy and Keith

Brute 65

•1200 lb. capacity

•Cart size 34”x61” easily fits through gates

•Up to 65 gal containers/32” ball

Brute 100

•1600 lb. capacity

•Cart sizes 45”x61”

•Up to 100 gal containers/44” ball

•Multi use: boulders, bags, timbers

Diablo B&B

•1200 lb. capacity

•Cart size 34” x 61” easily fits through gates

•Up to 32” ball, 23” depth on lip

•Tow/lifting loop