Nursery and machinery sectors adapt to labour and cost pressures

Experts discuss staffing, cost pressures, and customer preferences shaping the nursery and machinery sectors in 2025

Horticulture

24 July 2025

Following GrowTrade.ie’s 2025 Industry Sentiment Survey, detailed feedback from the nursery and machinery sectors offers valuable insight into how businesses are adapting to current challenges and opportunities in Irish horticulture.

Both sectors shared practical perspectives on labour, costs, and sustainability that complement the survey’s broader findings.

Labour retention issues

Roy Rentes, director of Rentes Plants, shared his insights on labour and production challenges facing the sector.

Staffing remains a concern, particularly around the quality and reliability of available workers.

“It’s not particularly hard to find people, but hard to find good people. Young people don’t stick around,” he said.

This observation aligns with the survey results, where 36% of respondents ranked labour shortages as their number one challenge.

Rising production costs

Rentes also said that increased costs, particularly around transport, are changing what can be produced economically in Ireland.

“Yes, there are a good deal of lines that we don’t think are viable anymore, so they will be bought from Holland instead. Transport in particular is going to impact heavily,” he said.

Peat-free demand low

Regarding the transition to peat-free growing media, Rentes said his nursery trialled a range of shrubs in both regular and peat-free mixes last year. Customers could choose between the standard price or a 10% premium for the peat-free option.

“Very, very few customers opted to pay the small premium,” he said.

Rentes believes that the push for peat-free products is mainly driven by a small group of activists and politicians, while most customers remain indifferent.

“It makes little business sense therefore to switch over.”

Shift to petrol

Michael Smyth, sales director of Irish Grass Machinery said that rising diesel prices are driving customers toward petrol alternatives.

“Diesel mowers have become very expensive, so we have seen a move to cheaper petrol alternatives. Contractors are comparing the initial outlay, fuel cost and whole-of-life machinery cost a lot more now, and very often they will buy the petrol over a diesel,” he said.

He explained that 60″ petrol commercial zero-turn mowers, which have a higher per-hour cut rate, can be €5,000–€6,000 (plus VAT) cheaper than diesel equivalents, depending on the brand.

“In many cases a contractor will never recoup the extra cost of a diesel over the much cheaper petrol with higher output. Customers are really looking at how many hours per week mowers are used for and are making more educated decisions and ultimately making more profit,” he noted.

Battery tools interest

Smyth added that there is some interest in smaller battery-powered tools, but large electric ride-on mowers remain limited in demand.

“For small handheld tools there’s a lot of interest. For the larger ride-on mowers not really other than from state-funded bodies,” he said.

“Contractors are trying the small machines but larger battery equipment not so much, as the cost to buy is still way too much for many with very limited options. They’re not yet proven that they can do the job anyway,” he concluded.

Both nurseries and machinery businesses are finding ways to manage today’s challenges, showing how the horticulture sector is adjusting to changing conditions.

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