Examining 172 years of consolidation in ornamental growing

A new report from Silver Fern examines the history of transactions in ornamental growing over the last 172 years. Speaking on the report, the author Kevin Short had the following to say:

“I’ve always wanted to do a project like this, and I’ve tried over the years to do it in various ways, but was never able to get the full picture. But now, AI has made it possible, and the results are really interesting to me. I hope others find this informative and useful.”

The specific catalyst for this report was the Greenhouse Grower Top 100: reviewing those lists over the years, we watched more and more of the reported square footage collect at the top of the list, and we wanted to know what was behind it. The deals are scattered across more than a century of trade press, securities filings, and court records, and as far as we know nobody has pulled them into one list. What we found was 819 transactions, every one traceable to named public sources, with recent events continuing the trend: August 2026 opened with one of controlled-environment agriculture’s most heavily funded companies announcing its wind-down. Section 05 picks up that thread.

Why it should matter to you if you grow: the direction of the industry informs your planning. Concentration in the market affects your strategy, including pricing, sourcing, marketing, target clients, and product mix. Whether or not you ever do a deal, the trendline in these charts impacts your strategic plan.

One note on the data: Deal facts come from public sources, with the source trail for every transaction kept in our research database. Industry footprint figures come from the published Greenhouse Grower Top 100 lists, and those numbers are self-reported by growers. Nothing in this report uses private or customer information.

Read the full report at the link here.