Michigan Christmas tree farmers are reporting positive harvest and sales numbers as Dec. 25 closes in, according to Bill Lindberg, a Christmas tree educator with Michigan State University’s extension service.
This year’s growing conditions were better for farmers than compared to last year, Lindberg said, and a wet spring really helped this year's crop flourish.
"We did get a little bit dry towards the end of late summer, early fall, August, September into October,” Lindberg said. “But at that point in the year, most of the trees had their growth completed already."
Michigan ranks third in the nation in overall production and sales of Christmas trees, only behind Oregon and North Carolina, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Lindberg estimates the Great Lakes state will harvest around two million trees this holiday season, and thousands of trees have already been shipped off to states across the northeast and southeastern U.S. to be sold.
“There seems to be more people interested in buying real Christmas trees,” said Keith Martell, who’s been growing and selling Christmas trees for 45 years in northern Michigan. He currently runs Martell’s Northwoods Tree Farm in Gaylord. “Our clientele increases about 10% annually,” he said.
Although Martell said his business has seen consistent growth, he said this year has faced a challenge for his u-cut operation due to the influx of snow.
On Nov. 29, the National Weather Service reported the city of Gaylord and the surrounding area received nearly 25 inches of snow in a 24-hour period. This broke the city’s calendar day snowfall record set in 1942 by over seven inches.
According to NWS data, Gaylord has had 18 days with less than or equal to six inches of snow this season.
“That’s not conducive to going out into a Christmas tree plantation to cut a real Christmas tree,” Martell said, with a chuckle. “We do have some die-hard people that are going out and doing it. All I can say is Merry Christmas and that people have the spirit.”
Martell added that his staff have been cutting down trees and bringing them to the front end of their business to make it easier for people who don’t want to tromp through the snow. The most popular tree on his farm this year is the Fraser fir, he said.
An MSU survey of Christmas tree farmers scheduled to be released next year shows 25% of producers have less than ten years of experience growing Christmas trees.
Lindberg said this is good news for the aging industry, and he attributes the trend to low start-up costs associated with getting a Christmas tree farm up and running. The latest Census of Agriculture shows the average of a farmer in the U.S. is 58 years old.
The Huron-Manistee National Forests are once again offering people the opportunity to purchase a Christmas tree permit through Dec. 31. Permits allow people to cut up to five trees in designated areas of the forests. Learn more here.
