US Nursery Producers’ Perceived Benefits of Adopting Select Automation and Mechanization Technologies

Labor scarcity is a challenge in the ornamental horticulture industry, including nurseries, where many production tasks are manually conducted to reduce plant damage. Automation and mechanization technologies (AMTs) are an opportunity to aid in alleviating labor needs in the nursery industry. However, to date, development and diffusion of AMTs for nursery operations have been limited. Our research addresses both nursery growers’ perceptions of which production tasks would be best served through AMTs and factors that impact these perceptions. A mixed-mode survey was conducted in 2021 and 189 surveys were collected from US growers. Ordered logit models determined factors impacting the perceived helpfulness of the adoption of AMTs for four production tasks: weed control, potting into containers, monitoring/spraying insects and disease, and inventory management. Our findings highlight the diversity of needs within the industry. For example, financial barriers primarily impacted the perceived helpfulness of automating weed control, while several barrier perceptions, potential benefits, and firm characteristics impacted the perceived helpfulness of automating the potting into containers process. Firms involved with the development of AMTs may benefit from the findings through a deeper understanding of factors that influence US nursery growers’ adoption of AMTs, which can allow for greater alignment between product offerings and grower needs.