The AGS team attended MANTS ‘25 this week in Baltimore, MD. As always it is an impressive show with a wide array of nurseries, greenhouses, and suppliers to our industry. The nursery booths can be quite impressive with the size of trees they bring to show off and entice business. Show foot traffic (in my opinion) seemed to be down a bit – I think due to the weather affecting many parts of the country. In Baltimore there was snow on the ground the whole time we were here, and it was very cold (at least to this Texan). 

As usual subject themes tend to coalesce so here are my observations from this year’s show.  

Software 

Lots of folks wanted to talk about software. Whether to discuss replacing an inadequate system or getting their first system to move beyond QuickBooks and an Excel labyrinth, there is keen interest in industry software. And more importantly how software can solve pain points for their business.   

Inventory 

Accurate tracking of inventory and knowing your ‘availability’ is still a keystone challenge in our industry. Many growers stopped by who had inadequate or little system support for the inventory needs and views they now require. One of the key advantages to using a bespoke software system for your nursery or greenhouse software system is the selection of effective tools for managing, allocating, advertising, controlling and ultimately selling your inventory. 

Inventory Tracking and Availability
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Relationship 

The show reinforces the fact that we are fundamentally in a relationship business. We were able to see and connect with customers who now have the 2^nd or sometimes 3^rd generation using our products. It was great to see customers whose children just a few years ago were roaming the show who are now taking on leadership roles for the operations. It is both humbling and gratifying to be able to have such long-term relationships with customers.  

Presence 

There were hundreds of nursery and greenhouse operations represented at the show. We were happy to see our customers had a big presence at the show. Over 40 of our customers exhibited and many more attended and stopped by the booth to chat and say hi.  

Retail / Wholesale Hybrids 

We are seeing more growers inquire about and who are running retail outlet in addition to their wholesale operations, some have or are starting to migrate more to retail.  

Mobile 

No matter the type or size of operation, data access is crucial to efficient and timely operation. And sometimes this means in a remote, mobile setting. “Mobile” means many different things to different people. And just because some provider says they have “mobile” or “an app” doesn’t mean that the data access use cases for your situation are included.  

In Store Data Collection with DTS
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AI – not 

I was surprised that AI was not a topic of conversation at all.  

The lack of attention to this now underscores my observation that AI is only affecting our industry in ancillary or highly specific use cases. And the general applicability to many of the real ‘data chores’ of a grower (forecasting, planning, sourcing, inventory, sales, invoicing etc.) are still not holistically impacted by AI in any great way at this time in the evolution of the technology. I think it will come but it surprisingly it was not a topic this year.

We enjoyed visiting with numerous growers this year. If we missed you and you want to find out how we can help improve your operation, contact Us to set up a no obligation call with our knowledgeable and experienced staff.