Agricultural Chemical Use - Nursery and Floriculture Crops - Release Highlights

NURSERY AND FLORICULTURE
CROPS 2009

Overview
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
Agricultural Chemical Use Program is the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s official source of
statistics about on-farm and post-harvest fertilizer
and pesticide use and pest management practices.
In the spring and summer of 2010, NASS conducted

the Nursery and Floriculture Chemical Use Survey
to collect data about chemical use during 2009 for
19 nursery and floriculture production categories.
The chemical use results of the survey are based on
1,606 usable reports from operations in six program
states: California, Florida, Michigan, Oregon,
Pennsylvania and Texas.

Nursery and Floriculture Production Categories
Nursery Categories

Floriculture Categories

Transplants for Commercial
Vegetable and Strawberry Production

Cut Flowers

Nursery Propagation or Lining-out Stock

Flowering Plants

Broadleaf Evergreens

Bedding Plants

Coniferous Evergreens

Foliage Plants

Deciduous Shade Trees

Floriculture Propagation Material

Deciduous Flowering Trees

Cut Cultivated Greens

Deciduous Shrubs

Herbaceous Perennials

Fruit and Nut Plants
Cut Christmas Trees
Palms
Ornamental Grasses
Other Woody Ornamentals and Vines

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.nass.usda.gov

Pesticides

In 2009, a total of 350 unique active ingredients
were used on nursery and floriculture crops in the
six program states. A total of 3.89 million pounds
of active ingredients were applied. In terms of total
amount applied, other was the most common
class of pesticide used on nursery and floriculture
crops.

Total Pesticides Applied, by Class,
2009 Program States

22.4%
Fungicide

Other

Top Pesticides Used, by Total Applied and Class,
2009 Program States
Active Ingredient

Herbicides

Lbs/Acre

Lbs

Glyphosate isopropylamine salt

1.221

196,200

Oryzalin

2.786

83,300

Oxyfluorfen

1.134

34,300

Petroleum distillate

9.523

223,200

0.812

87,700

Petroleum oil

13.634

76,200

Mancozeb

1.343

367,400

Chlorothalonil

1.310

159,700

Thiophanate-methyl

0.594

90,400

Methyl bromide

230.538

943,700

Chloropicrin

105.353

433,500

Dichloropropene

236.731

319,900

Insecticides Acephate

Fungicides

Other

A total of 677,500 pounds of insecticides was
applied to nursery and floriculture crops in the
program states in 2009. Based on total amount
applied, petroleum distillate was the most widely
applied insecticide accounting for nearly a third of
the total amount of insecticides used. Acephate
was the next most common insecticide at 87,700
pounds and third was petroleum oil at 76,200
pounds.

To
Ap tal
pli
ed

47.2%

Insecticides

Ra
Ap te p
pli er
ca
tio
n

17.4%

Insecticide

Of the total active ingredients applied, herbicides
accounted for 507,200 pounds, a decrease
from 929,600 pounds in 2006. Glyphosate
isopropylamine salt was the most widely used
herbicide, at 196,200 pounds. Oryzalin was the
second most commonly used herbicide with
83,300 pounds, followed by oxyfluorfen at 34,300
pounds.
Glyphosate isopropylamine salt was also the
most widely used herbicide in terms of percent of
operations using an active ingredient. Hexazinone
and isoxaben were the second most widely
used herbicides, both used by 9 percent of the
operations.

13.0%

Herbicide

Herbicides

animal repellents, soil fumigants, biologicals/
pheromones, disinfectants and slug/snail baits.
The top two active ingredients were methyl
bromide and chloropicrin, with a total of 943,700
and 433,500 pounds, respectively.

Fungicides

As a percent of operations, daminozide,
paclobutrazol and uniconazole were the three
most common other chemicals used on nursery
and floriculture crops in 2009.

In 2009, growers applied 869,800 pounds of
fungicides to floriculture and nursery crops. The
three most commonly used were mancozeb,
at 367,400 pounds; chlorothalonil, at 159,700
pounds; and thiophanate-methyl at 90,400
pounds. These three active ingredients accounted
for 71 percent of the total pounds of fungicides
applied to nursery and floriculture crops.
The top two fungicides, in terms of percent of
operations, were chlorothalonil and thiophanatemethyl. Mefenoxam was third.

Top Pesticides Used,
by Percent of Operations and Class,
2009 Program States
Active Ingredient

Herbicides

Other
Other chemicals comprised the most widely used
pesticide class, accounting for 47 percent, or 1.84
million pounds, of the total pounds of active
ingredients applied to nursery and floriculture
crops in the program states in 2009. Other
chemicals include active ingredients which were
used as growth regulators, rodenticides, other

Glyphosate isopropylamine salt

30

Hexazinone

9

Isoxaben

9

Acephate

38

Insecticides Imidacloprid

Fungicides

Other

Pe
of rcen
Op t
era
tio
ns

As a percent of operations using an active
ingredient, acephate was the most commonly
used insecticide. Imidacloprid was the second
most commonly used insecticide with 31 percent
of the operations reporting its use.

31

Abamectin

27

Chlorothalonil

27

Thiophanate-methyl

27

Mefenoxam

19

Daminozide

10

Paclobutrazol

9

Uniconazole

7

Pest Management Practices

Nursery and floriculture operations reported using several management practices to aid in the deterrence of
pests through prevention, avoidance, monitoring and suppression.

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Top Practice

To
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Top Pest Management Practices by Percent of Operations, Program State Level, 2009

Percent of Operations
% All Fruit Crops

Prevention

Infected plants or plant parts removed
or pruned

82

68

72

94

90

89

70

Avoidance

Plant density adjusted

58

39

51

57

60

74

48

Monitoring

Scouted for pests (by
general observations while
performing routine tasks)

82

79

84

81

74

95

74

Ground covers, mulches, or other physical barriers maintained

65

47

69

74

66

65

70

Suppression

For More Information

The 2009 agricultural chemical use data for floriculture and nursery were published January 19, 2011 and are
available through the Quick Stats database on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov.
To access the database directly, go to quickstats.nass.usda.gov and under Sector, select Environmental.
For assistance call the Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727-9540.
NASS will publish additional data from the Agricultural Chemical Use Program through 2011, including:
Post-harvest Wheat, 2010 Marketing Year - March 2011
Corn, Organic Corn, Upland Cotton and Fall Potatoes, 2010 Crop Year - May 2011
Vegetables, 2010 Crop Year - July 2011

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.nass.usda.gov