Introduction 
HISTORY 
For more than 156 years, the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Bureau of the Census, conducted the 
Census of Agriculture and related censuses and 
surveys. The 1997 Appropriations Act contained a 
provision that transferred the responsibility from the 
Bureau of the Census to the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics 
Service (NASS). The census of horticultural 
specialties is a part of the agriculture census 
program. 
The 2014 Census of Horticultural Specialties is the 
tenth census of horticultural specialties. Previous 
horticultural specialties censuses were conducted in 
conjunction with the census of agriculture and were 
taken in 1889, 1929, 1949, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1988, 
1998, and 2009. The 2014 Census of Horticultural 
Specialties includes producers of floriculture, 
nursery, and other specialty crops, such as sod, food 
crops produced under glass or other protection, 
transplants for commercial production, and 
propagative materials. 
USES OF CENSUS DATA 
The census of horticultural specialties is the leading 
source of detailed production and sales data at the 
U.S. and state levels. The census of horticultural 
specialties is routinely used by government agencies, 
academia, nursery and floriculture industries, and the 
general public. Census data are used to: 
• Evaluate, change, promote, and formulate 
policies and programs that help horticultural 
specialty producers. 
• Study historic trends, assess current conditions, 
and plan for the future. 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
• Design new and improved methods to increase 
horticultural specialty production and 
profitability. 
• Analyze and report on the current state of 
horticultural specialty production in the U.S. 
News media and agricultural associations also use 
census data as background material for stories and 
articles on U.S. horticultural specialty production. 
AUTHORITY 
The census of agriculture is required by law under 
the “Census of Agriculture Act of 1997," Public Law 
105-113 (Title 7, United States Code, Section 
2204g). The law authorizes the Secretary of 
Agriculture to conduct surveys deemed necessary to 
furnish annual or other data on the subjects covered 
by the census. The 2014 Census of Horticultural 
Specialties was conducted under the provisions of 
this section. 
HORTICULTURAL SPECIALTIES 
OPERATION DEFINITION 
The definition of a horticultural specialty operation 
is any place that produced and sold $10,000 or more 
of horticultural specialty products during 2014. This 
same definition was used in the 2009 and 1998 
Censuses of Horticultural Specialties. The definition 
used for the censuses in 1988, 1979, 1970, and 1959 
included operations growing and selling $2,000 or 
more of horticultural products during the census 
year. The definition used prior to 1959 used a $1,000 
minimum sales limit. 
The definition of a farm in the census of agriculture, 
which is the basis for identifying horticultural 
specialty operations, has also varied. Since 1974, the 
census of agriculture has included all farms from 
Introduction VII 
