From farms in Oregon to those in North Carolina, a lineup of obstacles face the industry: labor, tree disease and climate and land use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Christmas tree industry just can\u2019t catch a break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The industry \u2014 a collection of tree farmers and sellers across the country \u2014 has only just emerged from supply shortages dating to the 2008 financial crisis. But right as they\u2019ve started to find firmer footing, Christmas tree farms are staring down a new set of dangers, including climate change-fueled weather disasters and a shifting labor market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christmas trees don\u2019t come from forests. Instead they are grown and harvested in farms. There are close to 15,000 farms growing Christmas trees across the 50 states, with approximately 350 million trees growing on them, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. U.S. tree farms cut about 15 million Christmas trees in 2022<\/a>, the latest year data was available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three states \u2014 Michigan, North Carolina and Oregon \u2014 have the most acres of Christmas tree farms. Christmas tree farms across the country cover 266,964 acres of land, according to the most-recent USDA data. That\u2019s close to 417 square miles, or a little less than half the land area of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Challenges to Christmas tree farms span from coast to coast. Drought has wilted crops in Oregon, while wind, flood and landslides caused by September\u2019s Hurricane Helene<\/a> dented North Carolina\u2019s tree production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was definitely difficult,\u201d Joe Freeman, owner of the Mistletoe Meadows tree farm in North Carolina\u2019s Laurel Springs, said about the hurricane. \u201cIt was a lot of extra work there the first couple of weeks going into our season. But we saw a lot of support in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In North Carolina\u2019s Ashe County \u2014 one of the top tree-producing areas in the country \u2014 most of the damage was to buildings and farm supplies. The actual Christmas trees, which are often kept indoors as seedlings and grow on high-altitude hillsides as adults, were relatively safe from flooding. The real danger to the trees during the hurricane were the landslides, farmers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFortunately our product was not destroyed,\u201d Freeman said. While Mistletoe Meadows did incur some infrastructural losses from the hurricane, Freeman estimates upward of 95% of his trees survived the storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While no exact count is available, area farmers and scientists speculate that thousands of Christmas trees were lost in the hurricane, out of the millions growing in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are longer-term risks from Helene, said Justin Whitehill, who directs the Christmas Tree Genetics Program at North Carolina State University. The hurricane\u2019s waters could worsen the spread of the water-borne root disease that was responsible for the Irish potato famine, which goes by the name phytophthora. Fraser firs, the most popular breed of Christmas tree in Ashe County, are particularly vulnerable to the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we could not grow Fraser fir Christmas trees in North Carolina, we would not have a Christmas tree industry in North Carolina,\u201d said Carrie McClain, president of the Ashe County Christmas Tree Association and a co-owner of Hart-T-Tree Farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whitehill said he believes that while Christmas trees may be able to survive the direct impacts of climate change, like rising temperatures, the stress put on the trees will make them more vulnerable to existing problems such as phytophthora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe trees are experiencing warmer temperatures, or they\u2019re not getting as much water \u2014 that puts a little bit of stress on the tree,\u201d said Whitehill. \u201cWhen we get stressed out it makes us more susceptible to getting sick. The same can be said with Christmas trees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rising temperatures and droughts have worsened wildfires in some of the top growing counties in the U.S, particularly the Pacific Northwest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEspecially the last four or five years, we were getting these forest fires every year, and that was largely due to climate change,\u201d Whitehill said, citing the droughts that affected the region. \u201cAnd then you have hundreds of thousands of basically matches on the landscape. A lightning strike anywhere would cause a fire to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021, a heat dome formed over the Pacific Northwest<\/a>, including the two top Christmas tree-producing counties in Oregon, causing record-high temperatures. While there were still plenty of trees to sell in 2021, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported that adult trees in Oregon suffered sunburns<\/a> and many seedlings died in the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat did kill Christmas trees, and that had never really been seen before,\u201d said Jill Sidebottom, the seasonal spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association, which represents over 700 Christmas tree farms and is responsible for selecting the White House\u2019s Blue Room Christmas Tree each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communities in Ashe County and elsewhere in western North Carolina are still putting themselves back together in the aftermath of Helene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis whole event has brought out what I would say is the best in people,\u201d said Amber Scott, part owner of Cline Church Nursery in Fleetwood, N.C., which provided the 2023 White House Christmas tree. \u201cIt\u2019s been quite incredible, the outreach we\u2019ve had from all over the country and even outside of the country, of people wanting to give and donate. It\u2019s been quite a humbling experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While farmers may be nervous about worsening climate conditions, they are well versed in dealing with unpredictable weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverybody wants to know, is it climate change? Are things getting worse?\u201d Sidebottom said. \u201cI don\u2019t get paid enough to know that, but you know, farmers have always had to deal with weather and uncertainty because of the weather.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThings are changing,\u201d Whitehill said. \u201cWe need to be prepared for what the future brings. And pretty much every grower I work with, when I phrase it that way, they are on board 100% with that approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christmas tree growers in the United States also face challenges with the availability of labor and the rising costs of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost Christmas tree production, especially harvest, is labor intensive and you have to work no matter what the weather is like,\u201d Sidebottom said. \u201cAnd most people don\u2019t like to work that hard or may physically not be capable of working that hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the rest of the agricultural industry, Christmas tree farms rely on the labor of immigrants to harvest and transport the product. McClain, the president of Ashe County Christmas Tree Association, said all of the workers at her farm, Hart-T-Tree Farms, come in from Mexico through temporary agricultural work visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have the same guys come back year after year,\u201d McClain said. \u201cIf we did not have access to that program, we would not find a U.S.-based workforce to harvest our trees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data shows an increased reliance on that labor in the state. The number of migrant workers approved to work in North Carolina\u2019s agriculture, forestry and fishing industries has increased nearly 50% from 2018 to 2024, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most farm crops are harvested the same year they\u2019re planted. Not Christmas trees. The uniquely long time it takes to grow \u2014 a median of 7 years, but as many as 15 \u2014 makes any significant changes to the industry slow to start. Today, the industry is still recovering from the fallout of the 2008 recession, when decreased demand led growers to plant fewer trees, constraining the supply for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe industry isn\u2019t like a race car,\u201d said Sidebottom. \u201cIt\u2019s more like a train. It takes a long time to get things chugging, and it takes a long time to put the brakes on it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the harrowing year, this holiday season is still a source of light for Christmas tree farmers in Ashe County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen folks have their slideshows, of their family members, you\u2019ll see those Christmas photos,\u201d Freeman, the owner of Mistletoe Meadows. \u201cAnd what\u2019s always in that Christmas photo is that Christmas tree. It just to me, it reiterated the fact that the Christmas tree is sort of the centerpiece of the home for your family during Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFarming always has its challenges, and farmers are very resilient,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cAnd I think our harvest and selling season has gone well this year. It\u2019s been a good, good season for Christmas trees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n