Soaring Natural Gas Prices Threaten to Wilt California’s Cut Flower Industry

The natural gas epidemic is taking its toll on everyone, including the $300 million California cut flower industry. California is home to over 200 commercial cut flower growers and some are laying off workers, while others are sacrificing their Valentine’s Day crops because they can not afford to heat their greenhouses.

“Some California cut flower growers will be forced to close their greenhouses altogether if relief from soaring natural gas prices is not found—and soon," warns Lee Murphy, president of the California Cut Flower Commission. "Heating bills are reaching $500,000 a month for some growers, as compared to $100,000 a year ago," Murphy says.

The skyrocketing cost of natural gas couldn't come at a more critical time for California's flower growers, rose growers in particular. In December, buds formed on rose plants produce the Valentine's Day crop, which accounts for 25 to 30 percent of a rose grower's annual sales.

Growers typically heat greenhouses when temperatures drop below 60 degrees, a constant occurrence along California's coast in December and January.

"The skyrocketing cost of natural gas is equivalent to a major natural disaster for our industry. Without some form of relief the future looks very bleak for California's cut flower industry,” Murphy says. “Growers typically qualify for relief only when a crop is lost. In this situation, compensation will be desperately needed for crops not brought to harvest for Valentine's Day, and for crops sold far below production costs."

California produces more than 60 percent of all domestically grown fresh-cut flowers. Fifteen percent of all fresh-cut roses sold in the United States are grown in California.