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Seeing
Green
Christmas Trees… A Multi-Million Dollar Tennessee Business
RG Williams
The Valley Voice
It’s that time of year again. Time for family, friends, presents,
and…Christmas Trees. Whether you’re going into the woods (tree farm)
armed only with an axe and your wits, or you’re simply dusting off that old
tree you keep in the attic. Christmas Trees are big Business.
Last year consumers spent 36 Million Dollars on farm raised Christmas
Trees.
That pales in Comparison to the almost 60 million spent on Plastic
”Fake” trees.
Both product categories saw consumers spending less than previous
years.
Regarding the decline, National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA)
president and Washington grower Mark Steelhammer said, "“It’s hard to
point to a specific cause. While many will just blame ‘the economy,’ our
product’s value is naturally volatile once it hits the retail level because of
the short sales season.”
In 2009, consumers were asked about their purchase intentions for the
coming holiday season; The good news for us family farms growing
Christmas trees,” said NCTA President Mark Steelhammer, “is 35% said
they planned to buy a farm-grown Christmas tree, so we should be very
busy this year.” Only 9% of those polled planned to but a plastic tree.
Many different varieties are grown in Tennessee, including White Pine,
Virginia Pine, Scotch Pine, Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce and Fraser Fir.
Two to three million trees are grown statewide.
It is estimated that Christmas tree farms in North America planted about 42
million new tree seedlings in the winter/spring of 2009 to replace harvested
crops and meet future increased demand. Log onto www.picktnproducts.
org, to find a Tennessee Christmas tree farm near you!
Green
Christmas Trees… A Multi-Million Dollar Tennessee Business
RG Williams
The Valley Voice
It’s that time of year again. Time for family, friends, presents,
and…Christmas Trees. Whether you’re going into the woods (tree farm)
armed only with an axe and your wits, or you’re simply dusting off that old
tree you keep in the attic. Christmas Trees are big Business.
Last year consumers spent 36 Million Dollars on farm raised Christmas
Trees.
That pales in Comparison to the almost 60 million spent on Plastic
”Fake” trees.
Both product categories saw consumers spending less than previous
years.
Regarding the decline, National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA)
president and Washington grower Mark Steelhammer said, "“It’s hard to
point to a specific cause. While many will just blame ‘the economy,’ our
product’s value is naturally volatile once it hits the retail level because of
the short sales season.”
In 2009, consumers were asked about their purchase intentions for the
coming holiday season; The good news for us family farms growing
Christmas trees,” said NCTA President Mark Steelhammer, “is 35% said
they planned to buy a farm-grown Christmas tree, so we should be very
busy this year.” Only 9% of those polled planned to but a plastic tree.
Many different varieties are grown in Tennessee, including White Pine,
Virginia Pine, Scotch Pine, Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce and Fraser Fir.
Two to three million trees are grown statewide.
It is estimated that Christmas tree farms in North America planted about 42
million new tree seedlings in the winter/spring of 2009 to replace harvested
crops and meet future increased demand. Log onto www.picktnproducts.
org, to find a Tennessee Christmas tree farm near you!
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