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Economic Impacts of Drought on the Florida Environmental Horticulture Industry1
Alan W. Hodges and John J. Haydu2Note: The complete document is only available in pdf format. To access the complete document, please click here .
Abstract
An economic impact study of Florida's environmental horticulture industry in the year 2000 was conducted with a telephone survey of over 2,200 businesses and households, and the use of regional economic models to determine the multiplier effect of income derived from outside the region. The study also assessed the impact of the ongoing drought in Florida and water use restrictions on the industry. Wholesale plant producers, landscape services, horticultural retailers, and floral importers had total sales estimated at $9.91 billion and total output of $6.89 billion. Direct employment in the industry was 158,000 persons, with an additional 5,000 jobs created in other related industries. Total value added generated was $6.40 billion, including $4.12 billion in labor income, and $462 million in taxes paid to local, state, and federal governments. Purchases of horticultural goods and services by Florida households and institutions, such as hotels, restaurants, and other commercial buildings, were estimated at $3.31 billion. Plant producers, including nurseries, sod farms, and cut flower/foliage growers, employed 38,000 persons, managed production area of 173,000 acres, and sold plants valued at $2.25 billion, of which 41 percent was shipped to markets outside the state. Landscape businesses employed 61,000 persons and provided services such as landscape design, construction, and maintenance and related goods valued at $3.11 billion. Horticultural retailers employed 53,000 persons, managed 82 million square feet of retail sales space, and had total sales of plants and related horticultural goods valued at $3.64 billion. Floral importers in Miami-Dade County had sales of $904 million and employed 6,100 persons. In addition, allied suppliers of inputs to the horticulture sector had sales of $363 million and employed nearly 5,000 persons. Personal consumption expenditures by employees in the horticulture industry and allied businesses generated $1.91 billion in sales, $1.23 billion in value added income, and provided nearly 25,000 jobs. The study found that nurseries and landscape firms experienced a net decrease in sales of $245 million due to drought in 2000, while retailers reported increased sales, particularly for large volume outlets.
Footnotes
1. This is EDIS document FE385, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published May 2003. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.2. Alan W. Hodges, Assistant-In, Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, and John J. Haydu, Professor, Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, Apopka, FL, and Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
Copyright Information
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