Gold Hill Nursery: Better living through automation

In 2001, Matt Gold and Clarka Hill traveled to Europe looking for ideas to improve their nursery.

The brother/sister duo came back to Oregon with plenty of ideas, but the two that they immediately began thinking of ways to implement were fork systems for materials handling and trimming systems for field production.

Gold Hill Nursery’s six most popular crops are boxwood, Thuja, Alberta spruce, barberry, euonymus and juniper. Gold says watching the way Thuja is grown in Europe inspired him to be more efficient in his own production.

“We sell a 3-foot arborvitae for $9 or $10,” Gold says. “They’ll sell that arborvitae for $1.50. They’re highly automated in how they plant them, trim them and harvest them. And they do high-density planting to get the most out of their land. It’s a different business model and it’s fascinating for us to see that, and implement it in our business model the best we can.”

Of course, conditions are different in the U.S., so the Gold Hill crew has taken a slower approach to implementing those ideas than European growers, but Gold and Hill like to visit Europe every few years to pick up more ideas.

The nursery, which was founded by Matt and Clarka’s grandfather in 1965, has developed a deeper connection to automation. In 2009, the four owners of Gold Hill Nursery, which include Matt, Clarka, Joe and Steve, founded Midas Nursery Solutions to provide automation consulting and service for nurseries. It’s a niche that has gained interest as labor becomes a bigger problem and growers are looking for a way out.

“They’re feeling the squeeze with labor, not only the cost, which is pretty high here in Oregon, but also the availability, which is the bigger issue,” Gold says. “Even if we have to pay a little bit more, we’re just grateful to get the labor so we can produce the numbers our customers need.”

Gold, a past president of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, is able to draw from his own experience to help others navigate the confusing world of automation. The first step is to identify opportunities. Gold says many growers focus on potting, but if you already have a fill and drill machine, there’s not a whole lot of opportunity there. But the materials handling area can often be improved. “Once a plant is moved off that potting machine, how do you get it out to the field, how do you space it?” Gold says.

Next, start small. Set realistic expectations of what you’re trying to achieve and evaluate what you learned. Then take it to the next level.

“You don’t want to start with a marathon, you want to start by running a mile,” Gold says. “For us, when we started with the fork system, we started with one set of forks in our potting line. We learned what worked for us, what didn’t work, what our obstacles were. It makes a lot of sense for somebody to start small and build on their comfort level and learn from what they’re experiencing so that with the next iteration, they can evolve with it.”

Today, Gold Hill Nursery utilizes its forks in more situations, like loading trucks and transportation. In a nice bit of synergy, Midas Nursery Solutions helps other growers plan custom-built forks based on their container specifications.

For more: www.goldhillnursery.com