University of Tennessee cut flower project team

University of Tennessee Cut Flower Project Team 

University of Tennessee Cut Flower Project Team 

This group of extension professionals has come together from areas in horticulture and economics to support the growing industry of specialty cut flower production in TN. The project team is led by Dr. Natalie Bumgarner, associate professor in the UT Department of Plant Sciences. Bumgarner and Celeste Scott, Western Region Horticulture Extension Specialist, focus on cut flower trials across multiple growing seasons with crop and cultivar trials in east and west Tennessee. The opportunity for current and prospective cut flower growers to fully capitalize on the interest in cut flowers requires decisions that support high-quality production, profitability, and strategic marketing. Dr. Alicia Rihn, assistant professor in the UT Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, along with Rachel Painter and Eryn Bell, both UT Extension Farm Management Specialists, are meeting those needs by bringing together production information gained in field trials with consumer preference studies to develop Tennessee-specific recommendations for selecting and marketing cut flowers. The economic team is also developing enterprise budgets to support on-farm economic decision-making and business development.