Industry Endorsement Letter

February 2007
Dear Nursery and Floriculture Producer:
You have been selected for an extremely important role: as a participant in the January 2007
Nursery and Floriculture Chemical Use Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). A NASS representative will contact you to make
an appointment to visit your operation with a questionnaire to record your 2006 nursery and
floriculture chemical usage and pest management practices.
This survey is the only comprehensive measure of chemical usage in the nursery and floriculture
industry, and provides useful and important information on many levels. For you as an individual,
the completion of this survey provides a systematic way to review what your operation applied in
2006. Results will be published in the USDA Nursery and Floriculture Chemical Use 2006
Summary in December 2007.
The information you provide is also vital to our industry, especially during a time when there is an
ever-shrinking pool of government and university resources available for the development of
products and technology for tomorrow. The survey results provide a reliable source of public
information for all members of our industry as well as for industry representatives working with
policymakers at the state and national levels. By providing an accurate measure of the nursery
and floriculture industry’s chemical usage and pest management practices, the survey will ensure
that risk assessors and label registrants base their decisions on actual chemical use data instead
of worst-case scenarios.
Please don’t pass up the opportunity to participate in this important survey. Your participation is
crucial. Rest assured that your survey responses will be kept completely confidential, as required
by federal law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all survey respondents and publishes only stateand national-level data from this survey, ensuring that no individual operation or grower can be
identified.
On behalf of your fellow growers throughout the United States, we thank you in advance for your
service to agriculture through participation in this important survey.
Sincerely,

Dave Dowling, President
Association of Specialty
Cut Flower Growers

Otto Bulk, President
International Cut Flower
Growers Association

Robert Luthultz, President
Society of American Florists

Janet Anderson, President
Perennial Plant Association

Carlos Fighetti, President
American Orchid Society

Beth Walterscheidt, President
National Christmas Tree Association

Robert Dolibois, President
American Nursery & Landscaping Association