Market Trends: March 1998

Application Rates Controlled

Pesticide manufacturers, ever wary of attracting unnecessary attention from the government, have clearly made great strides in developing more effective products that reduce the amount of pesticides professionals apply for controlling problems.

Research compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 1979 shows that professionals working with pesticide products, including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, have cut the millions of tons of active ingredient applied nearly in half.

Professionals using these products, such as lawn care operators, have also contributed by learning the value of more targeted applications.

CENTS, MID-AM Shows Set New Attendence Marks

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It was a record-breaking year for two Midwest-based nursery and landscape events, a positive indication that 1998 will be an outstanding year for the green industry nationwide.

Officials with the Central Environmental Nursery Trade Show in Columbus reported that the 1,047 exhibitors and 11,598 registrants set all time marks for the event. The show looked prettier this year, commented Bill Stalter, executive director, Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association. There were many comments mainly that the nurseries were putting some extra touches on their exhibits.

The CENTS trade show committee decided that this year’s show would nix the opening night reception and instead channel the $25,000 typically budgeted for the affair toward grant funding for the Horticultural Research Institute.

No one said they missed the opening ceremony, Stalter said. That tells me we did the right thing.

Meanwhile, the Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show in Chicago saw a record 539 exhibitors and 10,389 attendees at its 25th anniversary event. Thomas Hoerr Sr., president of the Mid-Am Show and Green View Companies Inc., Dunlap, Ill., attri-buted the show’s success to its Navy Pier location and a shortage of plant material in the region.

The availability of plants is becoming smaller, and many attendees were looking for alternate suppliers of plant material, Hoerr explained. It’s a seller’s market right now.

At the CENTS Show, nursery owners said they are recording a boom year with supplies in high demand by landscape contractors. Owners said it is difficult to keep items in stock, and they noted a particular customer draw toward larger trees and dwarf-sized plants.

Requests for larger trees are being made by owners of newly built homes who also want their residences to come with a mature and blooming landscape to suit, growers noted.

The younger generation is impatient and lazy. They don’t want to wait for plants to grow, said Maury Noyes, of Alpha-Nursery, Georgetown, Ohio.

Scotts Co. Takes Aim At Gene Technology

MARYSVILLE, Ohio - The Scotts Co. is ready to bullet their way into genetic technology with the acquisition of a patented gene gun.

Scotts purchased 80 percent interest in Sanford Scientific in February and also acquired the biolistic technology as part of the deal, said Michael Kelty, senior vice president, The Scotts Co.

Scotts had been in an exclusive contractual agreement with Dr. John Sanford, the developer and owner of the gene gun technology for about two years and has been working on developing products using the technology, Kelty mentioned. The purchase of the gun makes that technological development more secure, he added.

It’s not a contractual agreement. Now we own it, Kelty said. It’s pretty pivotal to being in the business, he said of the gene gun. There are no other competing models of biotechnology available on the market, he added.

With the gun, the company can now work on genetic engineering in the area of turfgrass, floralculture, woody ornamentals and groundcover, Kelty explained, adding that Sanford will work with Scotts on the project. Sanford invented the gun while a professor at Cornell University and sold the rights to DuPont in the late 1980s for agronomic and medical realms. Sanford had retained the license for specialty crops until the recent acquisition by Scotts.

Lawn & Landscape School Of Management Shines

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Green industry contractors from seven states converged on San Diego, Calif., for the second Lawn & Landscape School of Management.

The contractors enjoyed presentations from: Jim Paluch, JP Horizons, on Five Important Things Improving Productivity; Lloyd Smigel, Care Management Consultants, on Motivating Your Sales Force; Ed Wandtke, Mollica & Associates, on Leadership Principles & Styles; and Bill Arman, Environmental Care Inc., on People: The Key to Success.

Developing this event allows us to present the wisdom and ideas of nationally-known consultants and contractors to a select group of professionals committed to bettering themselves and their businesses, noted Cindy Code, group publisher of Lawn & Landscape and T&O Service Tech magazines.

In addition, the sponsorship support of Husqvarna Forest & Garden Products, Shindaiwa, Toro Sitework Systems and Novartis made such an event possible and illustrates the valuable role suppliers can play in assisting with the educational efforts of contractors, Code added.

Scotts Buys Crowley Lawn Business

MARYSVILLE, Ohio - Scotts Lawn Service made its first acquisition since it purchased control of Emerald Green Lawn Care, purchasing the lawn care division of Crowley’s Lawn Service, Cleveland, Ohio. Crowley’s retained its vegetation mangement business, according to Crowley’s President Phil Fogarty.

Lesco Expands

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - LESCO Inc. used two acquisitions to establish a manufacturing presence in the New England region. The supplier of a wide range of professional turf care products bought Agriturf Inc., Hatfield, Mass., and Cadwell & Jones, Manchester, Conn., in two all-cash deals. Agriturf and Cadwell & Jones were both privately-owned suppliers of the turf and golf course industries.

In Business ...

Ransomes America Corp. announced plans for a 38,400-square-foot expansion to its Johnson Creek, Wis., manufacturing facility... Kohler Engines opened it new 200,000-square-foot Hattiesburg, Miss., manufacturing facility.