No Shortage Of Christmas Trees This Year

December is Michigan Christmas Tree Month. A proclamation from the Governor makes it official. It’s an annual tradition. Michigan growers tend to nine major species on a wholesale level, which is more than any other state. In addition to trees, the industry generates millions more through in the sales of wreaths, cut boughs, garland, and all sorts of evergreen based products. There were a lot of reports in mid-November about a retail shortage developing in Michigan this season. But businesses that wanted to buy trees wholesale for their retail offerings have had no problems getting trees.

A fair number of wholesale trees were spoken for early this year by Amazon. It offered a range of species and sizes. A seven-foot Fraser fir (sourced from a North Carolina farm) went for about $115. Michigan ranks third in the nation for the number of Christmas trees harvested behind only Oregon and North Carolina, supplying about two million fresh trees, with an annual net value of about $40 million dollars.  There are more than 560 farms growing trees on a combined 37,000 acres in Michigan. They range from large wholesale operations, to choose-and-cut farms, to small farms with a few acres selling pre-cut trees.Christmas trees take six to eight years to reach marketable height. For every Christmas tree harvested, Michigan growers on average plant three new trees for future harvests.