Christmas tree sales spike when economy sputters - Portland Business Journal:

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That’s good news for Oregon’s Christmasz tree farmers, whose 8 millionn trees harvested annually supply most of the countrgy withholiday cheer. Oregon is the country’s top producer of Christmas trees. “People just aren’y traveling as much,” said Bryan executive director forthe . “In times like it’s natural to fall back on events thatare comfortable, like traditional holiday celebrations.” The association reported upswings in tree demanfd during recessions in the early 1990s and in 2001 and Ostlund said, and it expects the same this Oregon Christmas tree sales are worty $125 million annually.
Clackamas County is the state’sz largest producer, followed by Mario n County. The industry has grown annualp harvests bybetween 100,000 and 300,000 treesx in recent years. A timely drop in fuel costs will help farmera get their trees to marketmore cheaply, and recent rains mean trees will remain moist and fresh for But the news is not uniformly Costs for inputs are up, farmers said, and wholesalse prices are depressed. “It’s tough to make a livingy in the Christmas tree businessaright now,” said Christmas tree farmer Mark Schmidlin of Schmidlinm Farms in Banks.
Demand for the populart tree species Nordmann and Douglas Firare up, but it is down for high-enc noble firs. Noble firs have desirabl thick branches and deep colo and have fetched higher prices inrecent years. But a market glut and cost-conscious customersa have eroded demand. Nobles typically retail for betweeb $50 and $75 while Doug Firs retailo forbetween $35 and $55. “Thers are too many nobles in the groundrighf now. They were planted a few years ago when priceswere up, but the pendulujm has swung the other Schmidlin said. Most Oregon Christmas treexs are soldin California, althoughh some are exported to Pacific Rim rim nationsz like Guam, South Korea, Taipei, China, and Thailand.
Mexicop is also an important export market for Oregon tree and is expected to absorb 13 percentof Oregon’s Christmas tree farmers ran into some problems with exportsz to Mexico last year due to This year, all trees exported to Mexicio must be shaken to dislodge and export inspections have been stepped up. “We are beintg more aggressive with trees going to Hawaiuiand Mexico,” said Gary McAninch, supervisor of the ’s Nursery and Christmas Tree Program, in a preparer statement.
Mexican regulators are particularly concerned about two treepestd — the Douglas fir twig weevik and the Douglas fir needle “Our growers have been informed there is a low tolerancee this year for those two insects,” said As many as half of Oregon’es export trees have already been shipped, Ostlund said.