US(FL): How American Farms increased output by 50% without expanding footprint

American Farms, a Florida grower supplying major retailers and landscapers, produces nearly 19 million liners annually across more than 100 acres. With growth came new pressures: rising costs, tight labor, and a need to turn crops faster without sacrificing the premium quality the company is known for.

The turning point: Automation and substrate innovation
Managing Director John Hardiman knew the business needed to unlock more efficiency to stay competitive.

"Time is money. Space is money," he says. "So, we have to turn it over in the production process. Every greenhouse is looking at turnovers. That's what we're judged by in this industry."

John Hardiman

The team focused on two major levers: automation and propagation media. For Hardiman, choosing Jiffy Preforma was an easy call.

"Jiffy offers solutions to address our needs for consistent, high-quality propagation media," he explains. "And what it does is allows us to turn all of our varied crops in less time with much better uniformity, higher yield rates and an overall better quality in the liners. It's a very consistent, well-aerated and relatively sterile media."

The results have been impressive at a glance: Impatiens are ready for transplant in 10 days instead of 8 weeks, with better root development, higher yield rates, and improved crop uniformity. The media holds up to robotic planting, resulting in no root damage and faster throughput. Labor costs have been reduced thanks to seamless automation, while 144-cell custom trays have increased production by 35%. Overall, output has been boosted by up to 50% with the integration of Preforma and automation.

"Once you do that, then you can't set it down fast enough," says Hardiman. "The machine we use will average 10,000 pots an hour. And you got to be on your best game to do 10,000 pots an hour."

The difference that Preforma made
Traditional loose-fill media couldn't keep up.

That's not the case with loose fill substrate, explains Hardiman. In order for transplanting to occur with loose fill, he says, roots need to be much more extensively developed than with Preforma.

With Preforma's bonded structure, crops like impatiens were ready to transplant in 10 days instead of 8 weeks. That faster root establishment also meant better compatibility with robotics.

"Preforma lends itself very well to our automation process with the robotic planters and the bonded material," Hardiman says. "It holds very well together versus the loose media, and you can plant it a little quicker, and it does no damage to the roots or the liner, and it reduces labor costs and improves the uniformity of the crop consistently."

No new buildings, just smart design
Facing space constraints, American Farms was considering a costly new propagation range. Instead, Jiffy co-developed a 144-cell plug tray—up from the standard 105—to fit the farm's existing transplant lines.

"It was like building a new propagation range for zero cost," says Hardiman.