tariffs on Mexico, Canada and other flower-producing countries, to prevent additional cost burdens on the industry.
We need funding to ensure high-quality, efficiently produced flowers and plants. The Floriculture & Nursery Research Initiative (FNRI) is a vital program that supports research to address challenges such as pest and disease management, climate change adaptation, and the development of sustainable growing practices. In early 2022, through the advocacy efforts of SAF, an additional $1 million in annual funding was secured for FNRI, bringing the total annual funding to $6.4 million. This increase allows FNRI to expand
research into technological innovations that make growing more efficient and sustainable, such as pest and disease scouting, plant stress monitoring and precision application of crop protection products. Considering the increas- ing costs of research, SAF is asking Congress to increase the funding level by an additional $500,000 to promote innovation in floriculture.
We need access to an affordable workforce. Labor shortages and costs remain one of the biggest challenges for floral industry. Growers in particular rely on the H-2A program, which allows foreign workers to fill temporary agricultural positions, but it’s costly due to exorbitant annual wage increases for H-2A workers. SAF is asking Congress to cap the rate at which H-2A worker wages increase annually, so that growers can afford to utilize this program.
We need tax policy that allows our businesses to invest in their growth. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) introduced several provisions that benefited floral businesses, including a permanent reduction of the corporate tax rate to 21% and a temporary 20% deduction for qualifying pass-through income. However, the pass-through deduction is set to expire at the end of 2025, creating uncertainty for business owners if not extended.
POLICY PUSH Tim Farrell, AAF, AIFD, PFCI (second from left), talks with a legislative aide during SAF’s Congressional Action Days. Floral professionals are asking lawmakers at this year’s event to address several issues related to product cost, floriculture research, tax policy, financial aid for growers, and immigration reform.
Additionally, bonus depreciation
— which allowed businesses to deduct 100% of certain expenses — began phasing out in 2023, decreasing by 20% per year through 2027. SAF is asking for Congress to extend or make permanent the pass-through income deduction and bonus depreciation provision to allow floral businesses to continue investing in growth without facing higher tax burdens in the near future.
We need access to financial aid for floriculture growers. Prior to 2020, floriculture growers had never received financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), whose direct payment pro- grams were geared toward row crops and “big agriculture” growers. In 2020, SAF convinced the USDA to include floriculture growers in a financial aid pro- gram designed to offset losses because of the pandemic. In late 2024, the USDA opened applications for growers to seek financial assistance to offset increased costs over the last few years. Floriculture was automatically included in the pro- gram, and once again the industry’s growers received this much needed financial relief. SAF will make sure the industry’s growers continue to get access to financial aid programs that help support specialty crop growers.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the senior director of content and communications for the Society of American Florists and the editor in chief of Floral Management.
WHAT ABOUT THE
TARIFFS ON CHINA? The 10% increase in tariffs on goods imported from China, imposed in February, brings the total tariffs on imports from China to 35%, raising costs for all floral businesses.
In its year-round lobbying efforts, SAF will educate law- makers about the compounded impact of this tariff on the industry, in light of the other inflationary pressures and the threat of other tariffs. But the best mechanism to seek relief from the additional tariff on Chinese imports, says SAF Senior Lobbyist Joe Bischoff, Ph.D., is through a petition to the U.S. Trade Representative, which SAF is pursuing this spring.
“Given that the China tariff is considered a national security issue, it would be near-impos- sible and perhaps unwise to ask our congressional cham- pions to oppose such tariffs,” says Bischoff. “What we can do is make a case to USTR for relief on a select number of items, based on their wide- spread use in our industry.”
The magazine of the Society of American Florists (SAF)
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