During 2010, Oregon nursery and greenhouse growers had less money coming in for the third consecutive year, according to statistics newly released by the USDA-Natural Agricultural Statistics Service, Oregon Field Office.

The numbers are added up from a survey that is sent to every nursery and greenhouse grower in the state. For 2010, the results indicate that growers rung up $676 million in gross sales. This represents a drop of $64 million, or 9 percent, from the 2009 figure of $740 million.

Some categories fared better than others. Bare root products declined 17 percent, while B&B sales dropped by 8 percent. Container sales were down 14 percent, but greenhouse sales actually rose by a modest 2 percent. Plants fitting into the “other” category (sod, bulbs, tubers, holly, cut greens and other products) were up by 28 percent, thanks to a $12.2 million increase in sales.

Geographically, Oregon’s top five counties for nursery production were Marion (Salem area), Clackamas (Oregon City and Portland suburbs), Washington (Hillsboro/Beaverton/Portland suburbs), Yamhill (McMinnville and Newberg areas) and Lane (Eugene/Springfield area). Lane County replaced Multnomah County (Portland and Gresham areas) as the fifth largest nursery producer.

The Oregon field office only surveys nurseries regarding payroll and employment levels in odd-numbered years, so no new data were released for 2010. However, the 2009 data indicate that the nursery and greenhouse industry paid more than $288 million in wages to Oregon workers that year, and employed roughly 20,600 people.

To view the complete set of numbers, download the PDF document.