The NFU has described recent cold temperatures and low consumer demand as delivering a 'double whammy' to the protected ornamentals sector in the UK.
The dampened market demand has made it hard for growers to clear spring stock, and more fuel than usual has been needed to heat glasshouses to keep plants alive.
NFU horticulture board member and chairman of the British Protected Ornamentals Association, Ian Riggs said: “Unlike food crops that tend to dominate the headlines, the £1.8 billion British ornamentals sector often gets overlooked. This is shaping up to be another poor year for plant growers, which after a bleak 2012 season could have catastrophic consequences.
“There have already been some high profile casualties, with many more growers cutting back on production to reduce wastage and cost. But that doesn’t help those who are now receiving cancellations for bedding plants that have already been grown to order.”
As consumers have not shown much interest in getting out into their gardens during the cold weather, retailers are abandoning the spring season and moving their attentions to summer stock. This has left growers holding vast quantities of unsold stock, which will most likely have to be thrown away as there is no other market.
Earlier this year the NFU announced that it would be holding a supply chain summit to bring together ornamental growers and buyers to try and find ways of sharing risk and reward more equitably throughout the supply chain.
Riggs added: “With so much investment and talent at stake the British ornamental sector needs to move away from a boom-or-bust culture and find ways of injecting stability and commitment into its supply chain.
'Growers can’t keep lurching from one season to the next hoping for a good year to put them back on track.”
Ian Howard of Ornamental Plants Ltd in Preston is having to burn more oil to keep his plants alive and he says it is having a negative impacting on the business.
“This is making our costs of growing horrendous. It’s also stopping us from taking on more seasonal staff. The multiple retailers are cutting back their seasonal plant orders to reduce their exposure on such a weather dependent part of their business. In the meantime we’ve got plants backing up and are starting to run out of space. I’ve got two weeks’ worth of bedding plants unsold because sales are so poor.”
