Horticulture operations in the United States sold $18.3 billion worth of floriculture, nursery and specialty crops in 2024, according to the Census of Horticultural Specialties published on 26 February by the Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The country had 23,060 such operations.

The census is the only detailed source of production and sales figures for these crops across the whole United States, and both sales and the number of operations rose against 2019 — partly because mushrooms and hemp grown under protection were counted for the first time in this round.

“First conducted in 1889, the horticulture census provides data on sectors for which there are no other comprehensive data sources,” said Joseph L. Parsons, the NASS administrator. It shows, he said, “the contribution horticulture growers bring to our local, state, and national economies as well as changes in the industry over the past five years.”

Production is concentrated. Ten states accounted for 67% of all American horticulture sales in 2024, led by California at $3.07 billion, Florida at $2.15 billion and Oregon at $1.29 billion.

Among commodities, nursery stock was the largest at $5.34 billion, up 17% on 2019. Annual bedding and garden plants followed at $2.67 billion, up 19%; sod, sprigs and plugs at $1.70 billion, up 34%; potted herbaceous perennials at $1.36 billion, up 47%; potted flowering plants at $1.29 billion, up 7%; food crops grown under protection at $1.01 billion, up 44%; and propagative materials, bareroot and unfinished plants at $780 million, up 8%.

Ownership and cost tell a second story. Family- or individually-owned businesses were the most numerous, at 56% of operations, but corporate-owned operations took 63% of sales, or $11.6 billion. Total industry expenses rose 33% from 2019, with labour the largest single cost at 36% of the total.

The two fastest-growing lines — food crops under protection, up 44%, and potted perennials, up 47% — are the ones a Bangladeshi grower might recognise. Protected cultivation and container nursery work are labour-intensive, high-value and possible on small plots, which is why they have become part of the argument for horticulture around Dhaka and Chattogram as well.

The Census of Horticultural Specialties forms part of the wider Census of Agriculture. Every operation that reported producing and selling $10,000 or more of horticultural crops in the 2022 Census of Agriculture was included in this special study.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service