Cathy Isom checks out why that Christmas Tree is a lot more expensive this year. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Expensive Christmas Trees
If you haven’t made it out to pick out your Christmas tree yet, you’ll be in for a bit of a shock. Sticker shock, that is. Prices for a fresh cut tree this year are up 10-percent from last year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. To put things into perspective, you may see prices as high as $300 for one of those huge, 13-foot Balsam trees.
What’s this all about? It actually dates back to 2008, when the economy tanked. Christmas tree farms took swift action to protect themselves by laying off employees and planting fewer trees. This year’s crop of trees was actually planted back in those years, so there’s just not as many to go around. While the wide varieties of pine, fir, and spruce trees that are grown for the season are fast growers compared to other trees, most still need about seven and ten years of growing before they’re ready to be cut. The shortage is expected to last about 6 or 7 more years. So be prepared to shell out the cash when you hit the Christmas Tree farm this week.
I’m Cathy Isom…