Idaho nursery industry grants to reach consumers, businesses

Idaho’s nursery industry received two $24,000 specialty crop grants this year, one to target consumers with the industry’s ongoing “Plant Something” campaign and another to reach out to businesses that buy nursery crops directly from growers.

Those grants are in addition to five others the Idaho Nursery and Landscape Association has received through the Idaho State Department of Agriculture since 2009.

INLA Executive Director Ann Bates said the grants have been a big benefit to Idaho’s relatively small nursery industry.

“These grants are a great opportunity to market our members and market the entire nursery industry,” she said. “It’s wonderful for us because our budget isn’t big enough for us to do this kind of marketing on our own.”

One of this year’s grants will be used to continue to hammer consumers with the industry’s “Plant Something” message. The campaign, in its fourth year, has already targeted consumers through billboards, banners and the Internet.

The next step is to spread the plant something message through TV and radio ads.

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