There’s optimism about the future of the Christmas tree industry. Gary Crawford has more coming up on This Land of Ours.
Ten to fifteen years ago Christmas tree growers were worried about the long-term future of their industry. Today that worry is changing into optimism.
It seems more and more people are telling us that they are done with artificial Christmas trees. They want a real tree.
“Those families are choosing real Christmas trees because they match up with their values,” said Tim O’Connor with the National Christmas Tree Association.
In addition, more and more younger people just starting their own families are getting their trees at family-owned Christmas tree farms.
“They can meet the family. They can see that growing a real tree is a sustainable business,” O’Connor said. “That matches up with the values of this younger generation.”
This is why Tim O’Connor says Christmas tree growers are very optimistic about the future of the industry. They’re planting more trees now, which will be ready for sale in about 10 years, and most growers believe those trees will hit the market with a growing number of buyers looking for them.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land Of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.