07/28/2026
Our farms are struggling. American Grown Flowers account for only about 20% of our nation's cut flower supply while 80% is imported. Decades ago that number was reversed. While small flower farms are slowly growing in numbers here in the U.S. they are also facing more and more challenges every year. Increasing financial pressure paired with more unpredictable and catastrophic weather events is stretching our farms, and the hardworking people who tend them, to the brink. Early Frosts are cutting harvest seasons short, Late Frosts are damaging or destroying an entire crop, 100 Year Floods are washing away entire fields every year, and dangerous air quality is threatening the health of our farmers out in the fields. Not to mention pollinator population collapse, wells drying up, and the unmeasured effects of nearby data centers.
Our farms are resilient but they are certainly not immune to these factors and they face new challenges every day.
The photos above are from Clarissa Gallup in Western NY. They experienced catastrophic flooding last week that has destroyed crops that were finally ready for harvest after a challenging spring planting and growing season. It's still too early to tell how many perennial plants are a complete loss. Earlier this month they had to install a brand new water line because the well water they used to rely on for years was no longer a viable way to water the field. The irony is not lost on us.
The only difference between a flower farm and a food farm is the seed that was planted. Flowers are food for the soul. But when we lose our food farms, we starve. Climate change is real, it is here, and we need to address it right now.
"Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you're the one filming it." , Twitter