By Dan Burden, content specialist, AgMRC, Iowa State University, djburden@iastate.edu.

Reviewed March 2011 by Malinda Geisler, content specialist, AgMRC, Iowa State University.


Background
In the United States, Christmas trees are an important part of Christian Christmas celebrations and of the national winter holiday. Trees make annual appearances in many city centers, including notable specimens in Rockefeller Square in New York City and the U.S. National Christmas Tree in the nation’s capital.

Christmas trees have been commercially sold in the United States since about 1850, when most were cut from forests. Midway through the last century, tree plantations began to appear, and now most Christmas trees are grown on or directly cut by consumers on plantations.

According to USDA's 2009 Census of Horticultural Specialties, nearly 2,700 operations sold 12.9 million Christmas trees valued at $249.8 million in 2009. In contrast, the 2007 Census of Agriculture reported 13,374 farms growing cut Christmas trees and short-rotation woody crops with sales of $384 million.

In 2009, 174,000 acres of land in the United States were in Christmas tree production, down from 446,996 acres of land in 2002 (NASS 2010).

While Christmas trees are grown for sale in 45 U.S states, the top five tree-producing states in 2009 were as follows: Oregon (more than 4.9 million), North Carolina (2.8 million), Michigan (1.2 million), Pennsylvania (812,000) and Wisconsin (619,000).

The best-selling species are Fraser fir, Noble fir and Douglas fir, followed by Balsam fir and Scotch pine. North Carolina is the leading producer of Fraser fir, and Oregon is the leading producer of both Noble fir and Douglas fir.

An estimated 60 to 70 million Christmas tree seedlings are planted yearly for upcoming years’ crops. The industry employs an estimated 100,000 people [NASS, USDA; National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA)].

Production and Market
Almost all trees require pruning management (shearing) to attain proper branch and fascicle (twig/needle) density and a proper cone-shaped Christmas tree shape. Plantation production is the best system for delivering the regularly scheduled pruning, water management and general care necessary to produce the highest-quality product. On tree plantations, more than 2,000 trees are usually planted per acre. On average 1,000 to 1,500 of these trees survive; disease prevention, water and stand management are crucial to successful stand establishment. Roughly three-quarters of a stand remains after six to ten years or so of culling. Maturity for harvest usually is determined after the trees reach six to seven feet in height. Christmas trees often are “baled,” tied or similarly wrapped to protect the branches and retain the shape and overall quality of the tree during shipping.

Tree plantations are now a common source for marketed trees and for the “cut-your-own” (“U-cut," choose and cut) agritourism experience where consumers venture to the plantation to select and harvest their own tree. As of January 1, 2010, there were 2,671 Christmas tree operations raising 157.7 million trees. (National Ag Statistics Service figures suggest that the number of operations will continue to decline, falling below 2,000 within ten years.) Considerable tree production is also undertaken in Canada, and the United States constitutes a sizable export market for those growers.

There were 27 million Christmas trees purchased in 2010, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, a trade group. The retail value of the real trees was $976 million.

Of the 27 million live Christmas trees purchased in the United States in 2010, 76 percent were pre-cut and 24 percent were harvested at cut-your-own enterprises. In the same year, 33 percent of Christmas trees sold were from cut-your-own enterprises. The remaining 67 percent of Christmas trees were sold from chain stores (21 percent), retail lots (13 percent), nursery/garden centers (12 percent) and nonprofit groups (9 percent).
 

Sources
Cut Christmas Trees: 2007 and 2002, 2007 Census of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, 2009.

Christmas Trees and More, University of Illinois Extension.

National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA).

Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association

2009 Census of Horticultural Specialties, NASS, USDA, 2010.


Created July 2007 and links checked March 2011.