Digger magazine

Serving the Northwest Nursery Industry for Over 50 Years

  • NurseryGuide_banner-728x90px.jpg
  • jobs-web-banner.jpeg
  • Home
  • Articles
    • Nursery News
    • Features
    • Plants
    • Growing Knowledge
    • Operations
    • Nursery Country
    • Meta
  • Issues
  • Events
  • Farwest
  • Columns
    • Director’s Desk
    • Mike Darcy
    • Pivot Points
    • President’s Message
  • Employment Classifieds
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
You are here: Home / Columns / Winter is coming

Winter is coming

By Mike Hiller — Posted November 26, 2018

Mike Hiller OAN President

Mike Hiller
OAN President

This might sound like a plug for Game of Thrones — after all, the Season Eight premiere isn’t that far away!

But seriously, winter isn’t just coming, as they say. It’s here. Preparations must be undertaken.

From a grower’s standpoint, we are almost done getting the plants ready to survive the winter. Some growers, meanwhile, are just starting bare root harvest. Others are doing their winter propagation. In the office, we’re planning for next year by developing budgets along with our production and sales plans.

Overall, winter is a critical season for us. This is the season when I watch and read the most about the weather. As an industry we rely on accurate forecasts to be able to plan and protect plants and structures for extreme weather.

It’s not fun when a winter storm event catches us by surprise. It can result in lost inventory — inventory we’ve invested in growing and which now won’t have a return.

My best advice? Find your source of weather information and follow it religiously. In the Northwest, we have several great options that geared to farmers and agriculture. These can help us decide what to protect and when to protect it.

I know that I have a network of fellow growers I can reach out to for those weather events. Maybe by attending OAN events you can network with fellow members and establish or expand your network. I know I do.

Speaking of networking, lately I’ve been hearing a term that I didn’t hear much about in prior years. That term is “inventory allocation.” It’s the idea that you can reserve stock for a customer, but until inventory is allocated to a sales order it is still available to sell. Several nurseries have been talking about this topic and all of the associated difficulties.

Allocating inventory often involves difficult choices. It is important to acknowledge a customer’s loyalty through the years, especially the ones that have been with you through thick and thin.

From the purchasing side, if you do not have your items booked by now, you might be on the hot seat. Hopefully you attended the Farwest Show and have a head start on everything. I say that because it is never too early to start planning for the future. If you haven’t started yet, today is the best day.

This winter, take the time to plan out what is vital for the upcoming year. Acknowledge your weaknesses and improve your strengths. We cannot plan for all of the variables that Mother Nature will give us. Just be prepared on how to act.

What worked for you? What did you struggle with? What are you going to do about it? Those are questions I ask myself all the time. I make a war board for those topics that need to be addressed. Then I work on a plan on how to address the issue.

Winter allows me the time for that thought process to happen, although I will say that there is no slow season in this industry. Not anymore. We can be swamped anytime.

As you consider these issues, remember that the Oregon Association of Nurseries is here to help with issues you don’t have time or resources to handle on your own. The association is your information resource and your networking tool, as well as your missile defense system to protect against market threats and adverse regulation.

And we are not just an association, but a membership-based one at that. Everything would be impossible without member support. That means we need your participation and your financial support. If you are a current member it’s time to renew. If you’re not, it’s time to join. Check the dues statement that arrived in your mailbox, or head on over to www.oan.org/join.

I hope you’re able to enjoy the holiday season. Thanks for all you do.

Download a PDF of this article

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Google
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket

Filed Under: Columns, President's Message Tagged With: Business, Digger, Digger magazine, OAN, OAN Members

About

NURSERY NEWS

MA introduces MycoApply® Ultrafine Endo/Ecto

Oregon Lean Consortium launches 2019 program year

Seed Your Future launches new career exploration tool

Kubota releases SVL-65-2 track loader

New president and CEO takes over at Skagit Horticulture

More Nursery News

FARWEST SHOW UPDATES

Oregon Nursery Country shows its best at Farwest 2018

Smart sprayer becomes commercially available

Oregon Nursery Country shows its best at Farwest

Farwest Show judges, attendees agree on ‘Cherry Choco Latte’ Rose Mallow for top honors

Ball Horticultural Company wins Best in Show booth award at 2018 Farwest Show

More Updates from Farwest

From the pages of Digger

February 2019

January 2019 — The Nursery Country Issue

December 2018

November 2018 — The People Issue

October 2018

September 2018

More issues of Digger

Connect with us online

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
​

News

  • Nursery News
  • Growing Knowledge
  • Nursery Operations
  • Meta

Features

  • Plant Features
  • OAN Members
  • Oregon Nursery Country

Columns

  • Director’s Desk
  • Mike Darcy
  • Pivot Points
  • President’s Message

Resources

  • OAN Home Page
  • Job Listings
  • Subscribe to Digger
  • Advertise in Digger
  • Online Plant Search

© Copyright 2008–2019 Oregon Association of Nurseries · Admin