Dr. Jim Owen
Profile Products recently hired Dr. Jim Owen as technical services manager for its Profile Growing Solutions team. In this role, Owen will provide technical support to Profile’s grower and blender horticulture customers, serving as a subject matter expert on substrate selection, optimization, and best management practices. He will also support research and development initiatives and product innovation.
“Jim has a deep understanding of horticultural systems and will be able to provide our customers with expert technical knowledge,” says Daniel Norden, Director of Product Development for Profile Products. “His problem-solving mindset will not only help us continue delivering on proven solutions, but he will contribute to research and development that will ultimately improve crop performance and customer satisfaction.”
Owen has more than 25 years of experience in horticultural research and nursery and greenhouse production systems. He most recently served as a research horticulturist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. He has also held academic appointments at Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University and Oregon State University. During his career, he has conducted countless studies and published hundreds of articles that have advanced the horticulture industry in areas such as growing media physiochemical properties, plant nutrition, automation and remote sensing, plant physiology, and water management.
Owen holds a Ph.D. in horticultural science from North Carolina State University, a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Rhode Island, and a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science from the University of Kentucky.
Greenhouse Grower recently caught up with Owen to learn more about his new role.
Greenhouse Grower: How did your previous experience prepare you for this new role?
Jim Owen: I received my undergraduate and graduate degrees in plant, environmental, and soil sciences before entering the public sector as a research scientist and state Extensions specialist. Throughout my 25-year career, I have had the opportunity to work beside and learn from greenhouse and nursery producers, allied suppliers, horticultural scientists, engineers, and Extension agents throughout North America and Western Europe. The combination of lab and on-farm research, teaching and Extension activities, and educational opportunities have made me value the importance of using and communicating science-based information to quickly provide applied solutions across the substrate-fertilizer-water management nexus when producing high-value horticultural crops.
Greenhouse Grower: What are some of the biggest issues or concerns you’ve heard from the growers you work with, and how do you plan to help them deal with these issues?
Jim Owen: I have heard, “It’s not just the economy!” To help with this, we first need to reassure the confidence of existing and new consumers, namely homeowners, commercial realtors, and municipalities. We need to instill in our consumers that healthy landscapes are an investment in the future. Landscapes will continue to beautify and provide cultural hubs that enhance human health while simultaneously providing ecological services from cooling our homes and cities, serving as wildlife and pollinator habitats, mitigating storm water, and storing anthropogenic carbon. These landscapes are and will remain the lifeblood of our industry, our communities, and our society.
I also hear, “Consistency is king!” Consistency is what makes horticulture easy, fun, and profitable. Economic and environmental uncertainties like labor, available peat, and fertilizer costs, decrease today and tomorrow’s certainty. For an on-time marketable, uniform, and profitable horticultural crop, there needs to be consistency across many factors including the physiochemical properties of growing media components and blends; availability, size, and genetics of plugs or liners; water or controlled release fertilizer; water quality; and reliable and knowledgeable people.
The first step is to ensure you currently have consistent products and supply chains. Next, you need a plan for each resource on which you rely. This could include having relationships with alternative allied suppliers that can help identify replacement genetics, peat alternatives, controlled versus water soluble fertilizer or vice versa, municipal versus groundwater, and a well-rounded staff that can fill in gaps as they arise.
I’ve also heard, “Water is the new oil!” There is no industry in which this adage has been truer. Success in producing high-value horticultural crops in containers is reliant on availability of continuous high-quality fresh water.
For the eastern part of the U.S., fresh water is mainly on the minds of horticultural producers during micro- or prolonged droughts that seem to plague us more frequently each year. In the West, availability of high-quality fresh water is always on the grower’s mind due to higher cost, greater societal competition, and increased regulatory scrutiny. Thus, we must ensure we have adequate freshwater storage reserves to collect storm water, protect the ecology of the surrounding community, and endure long-term severe droughts. Fresh water should be treated as a precious commodity, of which we capture in our pots, use efficiently to grow our crops, and recycle any non-target or leached water to extend utilization.
Regardless of the problem or solution, our goal as the green industry is to better the world while making the least impact. We do this daily by providing food, beauty, and happiness for our consumers while using the least amount of input resources possible. Today’s horticultural and retail initiatives help us continually strive to be more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable to ensure we remain the “green” industry.
Greenhouse Grower: What are the biggest challenges this industry is currently facing? Conversely, what are some of the biggest opportunities on the horizon?
Jim Owen: The biggest challenge is an unforeseeable future. We are uncertain about how the economy will fare at any moment, if we have labor for next season, which genetics are going to be in demand by consumers, will the peat harvest be good this year, are we in for a drought or rainy spring, will our overseas products fluctuate in price, will oil demands fluctuate creating instability in plastic costs, and what new pests will we have to endure.
Our biggest opportunity is preparation and innovation. We can have a list of the many uncertainties and check them off as we become more enlightened. Concurrently, we can prepare for the future by building new and lasting relationships to ensure diversity in our methods and products. Lastly, the horticultural industry, individually and as a whole, needs to continue to embrace its ingenuity and innovation to overcome challenges or obstacles that arise. This will pave the way for a better path forward that was initially unforeseeable. Our continued perseverance producing plants and opening new markets is our greatest strength.
Greenhouse Grower: Looking ahead, what role can you play in moving this industry forward?
Jim Owen: I will continue to provide innovation in horticultural production by working with Profile Products, our partners, and growers to optimize customers’ growing media, fertility regime, and water management strategies. I want to ensure the profitable success of horticultural producers and allied suppliers. Profile Growing Solutions has a large portfolio of solutions that can be integrated into existing systems or help reimagine production systems and practices. This allows for creativity and ingenuity that can aid in consistency, reduced resource utilization, and increased profits. Either in the public or private sector, I recall my mentor’s mantra, that we are ultimately here to help the grower “make money or save money.”
Greenhouse Grower: If you weren’t in this profession, what would you be doing?
Jim Owen: Horticulture is what I know and love, from the people, process, and product! I find my reward in solving problems by understanding each unique and individualized production system. My interactions within Profile Products and with academics, consultants, allied suppliers, and especially growers keep me on my toes and ever learning.