News and Public Affairs

Auburn, Dec. 2, 2003 --- Christmas tree farming is not for the fainthearted. The work is backbreaking, the hours are long and the profits are often elusive, as any one of Alabama producers would readily attest.

This largely accounts for the reason why the few involved in Christmas tree production keep getting, well, fewer. Even so, an intrepid handful of producers have managed to stay in business despite the many challenges.

“Alabama Christmas trees will never compete with the big boys up North or the mass markets,” said Dr. Ken Tilt, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System horticulturist and Auburn University professor of horticulture who assists the state’s Christmas tree industry. “But to their credit, they have managed to carve out a small, but profitable, niche in the choose-and-cut market. And they’ve managed to offer a special alternative.”

The few growers left in the business also have learned to become highly adaptive and innovative, he said.

Roughly 95 percent of Alabama Christmas tree growers, for example, operate choose-and-cut trees as part of an emerging agricultural trend known as entertainment farming. Many producers, in fact, use different forms of entertainment farming --- u-pick vegetables, strawberries, pumpkins and even daylilies --- to complement their Christmas tree operations, Tilt said.

“Farmers who have remained in the business know what they’re doing, and they do it well,” he said. “Sure, it’s hard work, but most stick with it because they’ve found ways to attract huge numbers of people to their farms during the Christmas season.”

Many Alabama producers also have begun to accommodate customers who still prefer northern-grown varieties, such as firs, spruces and scotch pines.

As for choose-and-cut trees, Leyland cypress remains the most popular southern Christmas tree, representing about 60 percent of total production. Virginia pine runs second, at between 30 and 50 percent, followed by Arizona cypress. Red cedar and white pine each represents about 10 percent of sales. White pines, however, are grown only in north Alabama.

Artificial trees remain the biggest competitor of Alabama-grown trees --- what Tilt jokingly described as “bah, humbug trees.”

“True, these trees have a place, but they aren’t as environmentally friendly as natural trees,” he said. “When you buy a natural tree, you’re not only helping your local grower but buying a product that can be recycled back into the environment.”

Many of these trees are recycled back into mulch or fish habitats.

Another advantage associated with Alabama-grown trees is the way they can often help customers capture the Christmas spirit with their families, Tilt said.

“The first time you visit a choose-and-cut tree farm, you have established a tradition for your family,” he said. “You’re creating memories that often last a lifetime.”

Tree producers often enhance this atmosphere by providing music, hotdogs and even hayrides.

In an effort to gain additional advantages over artificial trees, Alabama producers continue to experiment with newer, innovative ways to market their trees. Some growers, for example, are offering Leland cypress trees, which are especially well-suited for planting on the landscape, in 15- and 20-gallon containers.

Producers also emphasize the safety of Alabama-grown Christmas trees.

Research conducted by Tilt, for example, shows that cut Leland cypress and Arizona Cypress trees will stay fresh between Thanksgiving and Christmas as long as they are adequately receive adequate amounts of water. In fact, his study revealed that the moisture content in both trees was actually more than when the trees were placed in a tree stand a month earlier.

Burning tests over an open flame for 20 seconds showed only charring in trees that had received adequate amounts of water during the 30-day research period.

(Source: Dr. Ken Tilt, Extension Horticulturist and Auburn University Professor of Horticulture; Writer: Jim Langcuster, Extension Communications Specialist, News and Public Affairs, 334-844-5686.)

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