What's new?
Merry Christmas from NGIA
The offices of Nursery & Garden Industry Australia will be closed on Friday January 2, 2009. Throughout the Christmas period there willl be small numbers of staff available, with staffing back to normal on Monday, January 5, 2009.
On behalf of the NGIA Board and staff, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.
Robert Prince
NGIA CEO
Consumers encouraged to celebrate a living Christmas
The 2008 ‘Life is a Xmas Garden’ campaign features some of Australia’s favourite garden lovers sharing a selection of inspired and creative living decorations to use in the home this Christmas.
2009 National Conference & Urban GreenScapes Symposium – Early Bird discount ends soon!
Register by December 31 to get the Early Bird discount for the 2009 Urban GreenScapes Symposium and National Conference & Exhibition (February 17 to 19) – receive 20 percent off the full Conference & Symposium rate!
Consumer Buzz: Green in the Garden Centre?
Interesting statstics from the USA retail sector which could be a good indicator for the Australian industry.
Just what do garden centres in the US think about positioning and selling "green" or "eco-friendly" products in their stores? West County Gardener surveyed 200-plus independent garden centre staff members at the 2008 Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago this year. They just released their Green Market Research Study findings, in addition to announcing that their 2009 gloves will contain recycled material.
10 reasons to buy food locally
After declining for more than a century, the number of U.S. small farms has increased 20 percent in the past six years. This is in large part a result of the growing demand for locally grown foods, which is slowly but surely shaping the business of food.
A firm step forward
In an industry first, Jamberoo Native Nursery in NSW has recently advertised a position with CNP membership as a pre-requisite to employment. With two staff members already CNP certified, the nursery sees the importance of having formally recognised staff on board.
Industry representation on the NSW Rural & Related Industries Skills Advisory Committee
NGIA's National Training Manager, Fiona Kelly, has been invited to sit on the NSW Rural & Related Industries Skills Advisory Committee. It is important that the nursery & garden industry is represented on such committees to ensure key personnel are kept up-to-date and active in education, skills discussions and planning.
Nursery Papers & Clippings
In this month's Nursery Paper:
A generic economic decision model for the nursery industry to assess proposed changes to a business
Many production nurseries are faced with making business decisions on a daily basis such as production planning, irrigation management, human resource issues and other operational matters.
In recent times the issue of water use efficiency and managing water resources has been of increasing concern to many nurseries. A change in managing water use efficiency usually comes at a cost to the business but if nothing is done this could be of greater detriment.
