The Southern Nursery Association (SNA) Best Management Practices (BMP) Guide is designed to help growers identify and promote exceptional management practices, methods and procedures. Any of these management practices can be implemented regardless of nursery size or location, and empowers container and field-grown plant producers to operate at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness while implementing proactive management practices necessary to produce plants with minimal environmental impact.

This ever-popular guide has become recognized as the undisputed benchmark for horticultural BMPs in the U.S. with more than 6,000 copies in use today. The Best Management Practices Guide, v 1.0 was published in 1996 with an updated v 2.0 printed in 2007. Version 3.0 has just been released and is now available, for the first time, on the SNA website. Version 3.0 features two new sections – Constructing Wetlands: A How To Guide for Nurseries, as well as Crop Insurance for Nurseries. Version 3.0 will also be translated to Spanish later this year. Both English and Spanish versions will be available to the industry on the SNA website and are scheduled for printing.

Funding for this update project is made possible by the USDA’s Risk Management Association (RMA) in cooperation with the North Central IPM Center at the University of Illinois. RMA’s mission is to promote, support, and regulate sound risk management solutions to preserve and strengthen the economic stability of America’s agricultural producers. As part of this mission, RMA operates and manages the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC).

Printed manuals will be available later this year. Past versions have cost $75 (member) and $100 (non-member), but through funding provided by the USDA’s Risk Management Association (RMA) in cooperation with the North Central IPM Center at the University of Illinois, the only cost for the printed manuals will be a small fee to cover shipping and handling.

To view the online BMP Manual, click here.