b'ficult, to say the least. When it comes to delivery, Galespikes that have been rising from the They had to add second and thirdsays he expects vegetable seed deliv- Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.shifts, but then the question became:eries to be just like normalter- He anticipates that there will be how do you add employees duringrible. another large bump in demand in a pandemic? Blazek says. One ofVegetable seed is always terrible2021.our members thought: Hey, all theas far as delivery, he says. I know aI think were going to see that big restaurants are closed. They endednumber of my purchasing guys havebump we had last year, and I think up speaking to one of their friends inalways said it seems like a crimeitll be at least a similar demand we the restaurant industry and were ableagainst business. We typically dontsaw in 2020, he says. So, I anticipate to bring the restaurant staff in to helpget as much as 30 per cent of ourthat our sales should be somewhat their company fulfill orders. seed on the date we asked foritssimilar to 2020, with the potential for always delayed. I see that as beingbeing a little higher. Whats Seed Supply Looking Like? one of the biggest hassles for 2021,In preparation, Gale says theyve While 2020 might have shaped up tobecause theres no such thing asbeen mailing their catalogues.be hectic on the home garden seedjust-in-time inventory. Mother NatureAt one time, I wasnt going to side of things, 2021 is shaping up adoes not work to a schedule. Shemail the Stokes catalogue out to those little better. will produce when she produces in aMarch newbies, because I figured One thing of importance that Galequality level that she seems to feel isthey werent going to come back, he notes is that it does not look likeadequate. says. However, since we are expect-there will be a seed shortage at all. ing a strong season similar to 2020, Normally, the biggest prob- we decided to mail everyone our lem domestically is the weather incatalogue.Washington, Idaho and California,Other than that, Gales focus is where a lot of the U.S. domestic seedon mitigating the COVID anxieties in production for sweet corn, onions,staff. carrots, watermelon and more areWe want everyone to feel safe grown. If theyre having a dry orcoming to work, he says. Everyone hot seasonwhich they had a hothas a lot of family responsibilities season in 2020that can affect pol- from children to older family mem-lination and harvest, he says. bers living with them to first respond-Internationally, Gale says the big- ers living with them.gest problem hanging over the indus- What this means for Stokes is a try is the tariffs between the U.S. andhigher level of security within their China.environment.China is a large producer ofWayne Gale operates Stokes Seeds. Since March, we dont allow cucurbits, he says. Quite a few com- visitors in the building, unless its a panies grow their supply and multiplyIf you had asked Gale inmaintenance person, he says. We all their vegetable seed in China. TheSeptember if he thought there wouldwear masks when we leave our seats, Trump administration put in a 25 perbe another seed boom, his responseand weve shut our on-location store cent tariff, which was disruptive. would have been, No way! down for right now. Other than that, the threat ofThree months ago, I would haveAs for marketing, Gale says its Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virustold you wed probably see a declinebusiness as usual.(ToBRFV) is another internationalin business versus last year, asWe currently have maybe 30 and domestic threat to peppers andpeople realized how difficult it is topeople in our warehouse, and its tomatoes.grow your own food, he says. very safe. You dont want to start The industry is still grapplingGale thought that as the groceryneeding to put 60 people, which with ToBRFV, but its a bit better thisstores went back to normal and hadwont allow the six-foot clearance and year due to testing formalization, hea steady supply of toilet paper, theintroduces more people into your says. ToBRFV did cause some seedseed sales would steadily go back tobubble.shortages in tomato and pepper lastnormal.Now, Gale says, its just a balanc-year, but I think thats mostly settledHowever, something changed hising act and anticipating what 2021 for 2021. thoughts on that. Namely, the COVIDwill look like. 42GERMINATION.CAMARCH 2021'