{tab=Supply costs}
Supply costs likely represent serious money on a greenhouse balance sheet, so it’s essential to keep those prices in check. Take the time to compare prices of many, if not all, of your supplies each season. It could mean the difference between red and black ink on your balance sheet.
Every year Jonathon Venzke, production manager at Clackamas Greenhouses in Aurora, Ore., shops around for growing media. He wants to make sure he’s getting the most for his money.
“We’re located right by several soil blenders, so it makes sense not to mix our own,” Venzke said.
Growers can’t be complacent about supply costs.
“Every time we need to replenish supplies, from hoses to carts, we source it out to find the best price,” said Garth Penrod, operations manager at High Plains Greenhouses in Denver. “It’s a good idea to shop around, but you have to compare apples to apples when it comes to pricing.”
Quality vs. price
While there may be a few things in the greenhouse that warrant buying the cheapest available, don’t sacrifice quality for cost with most supplies. Buying the cheapest available products, including starter plant materials, media and equipment, may cost you more money in the long run.
“We don’t skimp on any plant material or soil,” said Kurt Oelschig, president of Oelschig Greenhouses in
High Plains Greenhouses may shop prices each year for media, but it never considers buying inferior products just to save on costs.
“If you buy low-quality soil, you'll run into problems like Pythium or other diseases, so you have added cost of [chemical] drenches. It just doesn't pay off,” Penrod said.
Price vs. performance
Price shouldn’t be the only consideration for managing supply costs. A product’s function is important and could save a grower money.
Premier Horticulture incorporates beneficial bioadditives to its line of growing mixes, which provides better root systems and disease prevention, said Jim Hartzell, vice president of sales at Premier. PRO-MIX with Mycorise Pro features mycorrhizal fungi that works as a growth enhancer and PRO-MIX with Biofungicide reduces fungicide drenches by up to 80 percent. The mycorrhizal additive is included at no extra charge.
Ed McConkey, president of McConkey Co., a horticultural products distributor, suggests that growers contact suppliers to identify better performing products.
“I tell our salesman to be a resource for the grower -- bring new ideas to them,” McConkey said. “Sometimes it’s not buying something for less, but buying a better product – something that grows plants faster, saves energy or decreases labor.”
Bulk it up
Considering buying products in bulk, either alone or with a group of other growers. The more you buy, the more you save. Many suppliers wave freight costs on large orders.
Clackamas Greenhouses orders no more than three shipments of plastic containers per year to get the best price on freight and product, Venzke said.
Oelschig Greenhouses buys two or three container loads of pots per year, which lowers the per-unit price and the freight costs.
Oelschig also is considering joining a buying cooperative. “It’s been in the back of my mind for a few years,” he said.
Oelschig also orders pot covers once a year, which reduces costs, but he also pays the bill within 30 days to avoid having to pay freight charges. He also tries to receive rack deliveries from suppliers to save on box costs.
For more: Clackamas Greenhouses, (800) 460-7860; www.clackamasgreenhouses.com. High Plains Greenhouses, (303) 289-5631; www.highplains.biz. Oelschig Greenhouses, (912) 234-0015. Premier Horticulture, (800) 525-2553; www.premierhort.com. McConkey Co., (800) 426-8124; www.mcconkeyco.com.
Quick tips
Looking for price breaks? Try these suggestions from Charlie Hall, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Tennessee Extension.
* Purchase in volume either individually or collectively, such as a purchasing cooperative.
* Prompt payment sometimes earns a price break.
* Remain flexible with delivery schedules -- it can sometimes earn better terms of payment.
* Get to know your suppliers. Long-term relationships with vendors is a win-win situation.
* Buy early in the season to take advantage of any incentives offered.
For more: Charlie Hall, (865) 974-7410; crh@utk.edu; www.utextension.utk.edu/hbin.
Recycle, reuse, reduce -- costs
Oelschig Greenhouses takes back any usable products from its customers, including containers. They’re sterilized before reuse.
“When you think about saving 10 cents on a 1-gallon pot, even if you sterilize it, the savings add up,” Oelschig said.
Reusing water with collection systems or reusing someone else’s waste, such as methane gas from a landfill or sludge from a sewer plant, also saves costs.
Procedural changes may save costs
Dill’s Greenhouse in
“It’s the first time we’ve done something like this,” said Tom Brandewie, production manager at Dill’s. “In the past, we had one 30-by-100-foot greenhouse open during the winter. This way, we saved about six or eight weeks of heating costs.”
The cuttings were initially shipped to Dill’s then delivered to Cuthbert’s for rooting. Dill’s also saves labor costs with this setup.
Brandewie expects to get a larger return on the percentage of useable cuttings.
{sidebar id=1}
“We’d get 80-85 percent, depending on variety, but Cuthbert will probably get a 93-98 percent return,” he said. “We’re getting a better germination rate and a superior product.”
For more: Dill’s Greenhouse, (614) 836-3700; www.dillsgreenhouse.net.
- Kelli Rodda
{tab=Sound solutions}
Give your suppliers plenty of lead time
Justin Marotta, Possum Run Greenhouse
Give your suppliers plenty of lead time
Last-minute orders are hurting the industry. People wait too long to order hard goods and green goods. Growers don’t understand that when they order late, it snowballs into a timing and availability issue, a production issue and a labor management issue.
All those processes have to be managed correctly, and you can’t do that effectively on short notice.
As a courtesy to your suppliers, give them six months of lead time, if not more. Organize your time better so suppliers have enough time to better manage their procedures.
Ordering at the last minute is making everyone’s job more difficult all along the supply chain.
At the end of each season, begin orders for the next season, which makes the producers’ availability and quality that much better.
Ordering early is courteous and respectful. It renews and develops solid relationships while tardiness creates hardships, extra work and less joy.
It erodes the trust, confidence and relationships between the grower and the supplier.
{sidebar id=1}
Now folks just need to get the backbone to say this is what we need and work toward that end. We are working with a living organisms that come to us from all over the world and are handled by man.
Justin Marotta is Possum Run Greenhouse, (419) 892-2770; www.possumrungreenhouse.com.
{/tabs}