Session Title: The Template Method for Growing: Case Studies in Maximizing Quality and Efficiency

Sunday, July 11  4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Description: Growers are under enormous pressure to produce high quality product in tight ship windows. Missing a PGR, pinch, or fungicide spray on a crop could mean a missed sales window within a very short season. Three industry professionals describe HOW they build proactive, strategic production templates that can be tweaked year-to-year, based on weather or other issues. 

Level: Progressive        Type: Growing


Session Speakers:

Matt Foertmeyer, Head Grower at Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse Co.
Bob Dickman, Greenhouse Manager at Dickman Farms, LLC
Jason Twaddell, Ball Seed Sales Rep at Ball Seed Company



    Bob Dickman

    Greenhouse Manager at Dickman Farms, LLC

    Bob Dickman is the General Manager at Dickman Farms LLC.  He is the fifth generation to work within the Company.  Robert grew up on the family farm where he worked throughout his school years.  Once graduating high school Bob joined the United States Marine Corps following in his grandfather’s footsteps who he admired for his leadership ability.  Bob spent 6 years in the Marine Corps participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom before being honorably discharged as a non-commissioned officer.  In his second deployment he was squad leader of an infantry platoon in charge of 13 Marines who carried out over 60 missions. 

    Once out of the military Bob attended Montana State University with a focus in marketing.  He moved back to the family farm in New York and started from the bottom up working as a truck driver, production worker, assistant grower and shipping supervisor.  He took on the General Manager position in 2014 where he oversees 12 acres of greenhouse and over 100 employees.  Bob also serves on the AmericanHort Board, County Farm Bureau board as well as New York State Flower Industries board.  He was elected to the 2014 class of 40 under 40 by GPN magazine. 

    Dickman Farms ... Greenhouses & Garden Center
    Established in 1903, Dickman Farms is a fourth generation family owned business and still growing after 110 years. Dave and Jim Dickman own and operate the wholesale and retail operations. In 1978 Dickman Farms established relations with Ball Seed Company as a supplier. Since 1997, Dickman Farms has operated as an exclusive supplier and rooting station to the Ball Horticultural Company, producing young plants, shipping in excess of 120,000 liner trays throughout North America. Eighty Five percent of this product ships via Dickman Farms company fleet to all states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest and Canada. Finished annuals and perennials are sold and shipped daily to Independent Garden Centers across the northeast. Today, over ten million young plants are shipped annually to growers across the United States. Over 8 million finished plants are shipped to independent garden centers.

    Address:   13 Archie St. Auburn, NY 13021
    Email:  bob@dickmanfarms.com    
    Contact:   Bob Dickman
    Phone:  315.253.3030   FAX: 

                 






    Established in 1903, Dickman Farms is a fourth generation family owned business and still growing after 110 years. Dave and Jim Dickman own and operate the wholesale and retail operations.

    Wholesale

    In 1978 Dickman Farms established relations with Ball Seed Company as a supplier. Since 1997, Dickman Farms has operated as an exclusive supplier and rooting station to the Ball Horticultural Company, producing young plants, shipping in excess of 120,000 liner trays throughout North America. Eighty Five percent of this product ships via Dickman Farms company fleet to all states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest and Canada. Finished annuals and perennials are sold and shipped daily to Independent Garden Centers across the northeast.

    Today, over ten million young plants are shipped annually to growers across the United States. Over 8 million finished plants are shipped to independent garden centers.

    Dickman Farms Garden Center

    Retail

    Dickman Farms Garden Center is a large enclosed retail space with a newly renovated exterior nursery yard. The Garden Center takes great pride in offering its customers quality plants in a naturally beautiful shopping environment. The beneficial relations between wholesale and retail helps to ensure that Dickman Farms Garden Center provides our customers with a large selection of unique varieties of plant materials, "Fresh from the Greenhouse."

    Dickman Farms Garden Center has annually been named one of Today's Garden Center Top Revolutionary Garden Centers in the nation since 2008, and offers a number of educational events and workshops throughout the year that inspire gardening and home beautification.

    At Dickman Farms we continue to change and grow with the times to ensure we are offering our customers simply the best.


               

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