Forestry & Finance: The Economics of U.S. Christmas Tree Farms

As temperatures drop this December, we sat down with Dr. Jamie Dinkins Bookwalter and Dr. Will Kohlway, two Christmas tree specialists from North Carolina State Extension. Join us for the final episode of 2024 as we discuss the economic impacts of the forestry industry, the ecosystem services forests provide, the unique Christmas Tree farm industry in North Carolina, and how North Carolina's Christmas tree farms were impacted by Hurricane Helene this year.

Additional Resources:

• NC State Extension - Christmas Trees Program
• Dr. Jamie Bookwalter - Directory Page
• Dr. Will Kohlway - Directory Page

Statistics from Today's Episode:

• Oswalt , S. (2019, April). The state of the Forest. USDA. 
• Florida Forests. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 
• (December 2023) 2023 U.S. Forestry Economic Contributions by State. Arkansas Center for Forest Business.
•  (November 2024). Christmas tree: plans among U.S. consumers in 2024. Statista.
• (November 2021).  Time to put up the Christmas tree in the United States 2021. Statista.
• (January 2024) 2023 Season Recap. National Christmas Tree Association.
• (November 2024) Christmas tree: plans among U.S. consumers in 2024, by age group. Statista.
• Ferrell, J. & Richardson, S. (December 2024) Real v. Artificial: The Christmas Tree Decision. Red River Radio.
• (November 2024) Planned expenditure for Christmas decorations in the United States 2024. Statista.
• Camberg, N. (December 2024). Mapped: Where US Christmas trees come from. WMTW.

The opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their sole responsibility do not represent positions, policies or opinion of the University of Florida, UF/IFAS, or the UF/IFAS Department of Food and Resource Economics.

Got thoughts on the episode, questions for us, or an idea for what we should cover next? Reach out to us by email at fre@ifas.ufl.edu

Transcript

00;00;08;23 - 00;00;19;22

Alena Poulin

Welcome to FRE Lunch, the official podcast of the Food and Resource Economics department at the University of Florida. I'm Alena Poulin, the marketing and communication specialist for the department.

00;00;19;29 - 00;00;34;15

Caleb Stair

I'm Caleb Stair, assistant instructional professor of food and resource economics and the coordinator for undergraduate research in the department. Meaning I get to interact regularly with the members of our FRE community and see all the cool and interesting topics being explored.

00;00;34;21 - 00;00;50;05

Alena Poulin

That's why we made this podcast to showcase the many ways students and faculty are using economic research to understand and address the complex issues facing agricultural and natural resource industry.

00;00;50;07 - 00;00;57;06

Caleb Stair

Happy holidays! From forestry to finances. That's right. Today we're talking about Christmas trees.

00;00;57;07 - 00;01;16;06

Alena Poulin

And not just Christmas trees. As temperatures start to drop, Christmas trees aren't the only forestry products that come into high demand. Think of it this way. There's chestnuts roasting on an open fire. The woodchips and pellets that are used in smokers to prepare holiday feasts. Paper used to wrap presents for loved ones, and more.

00;01;16;09 - 00;01;42;27

Caleb Stair

Oh, by the way, those chestnuts roasting on an open fire. They don't come for free. In 2019, Americans spent over $131 million on fire logs and another 86 million firewood. The forests and woodlands in the United States combined make up over one third of the nation's landscape, with half of that privately owned. In fact, in Florida, there are more than 300,000 private owners of forest land.

00;01;42;29 - 00;01;57;01

Alena Poulin

The United States forest products industry accounts for approximately 4% of the nation's total manufacturing gross domestic product. It produces over $200 billion in products every year.

00;01;57;02 - 00;02;26;02

Caleb Stair

And last year, the U.S. forestry industry employed 3.4 million people and generated over $250 billion in labor income. Here in Florida, forests cover more than 14.5 million acres. That's almost half of our land area. So no, we're not just beaches and springs. In fact, the state forest products industries have an economic impact of 133,000 jobs.

00;02;26;03 - 00;02;37;01

Alena Poulin

Now, I know we are an economics podcast, but the impact of forestry goes way beyond the economics. These forests are also providing an array of highly valuable ecosystem services.

00;02;37;03 - 00;02;44;03

Caleb Stair

Think of ecosystem services as a favor that forests do for the ecosystem.

00;02;44;05 - 00;02;56;14

Alena Poulin

That's right. These favors include things like providing a space for recreation, providing carbon sequestration and storage, which would help mitigate climate change, and providing fish and wildlife habitats and biodiversity.

00;02;56;17 - 00;03;04;23

Caleb Stair

And while, yes, the forestry industry does by its nature, involve harvesting these forests, it's also responsible for maintaining them.

00;03;04;24 - 00;03;17;26

Alena Poulin

For example, in Florida, over 82 million trees are planted each year. That's five planted for each one cut down. This ensures that the forestry industry is sustainable and that our forests will be around for many years to come.

00;03;17;29 - 00;03;25;20

Caleb

So that's the big picture, right? That's the forestry industry. But since it's December, what about Christmas trees?

00;03;25;27 - 00;03;43;02

Alena Poulin

When it comes to trees being purchased to bring home and decorate, there are quite a few options. Different species of pine, spruce and fir trees are all popular choices. This year I purchased a Frazier fir brought down from North Carolina to be sold by a family owned farming operation out of Virginia.

00;03;43;05 - 00;03;54;18

Caleb Stair

Or you could be like me and 46% of other Americans and purchase an artificial tree. These are typically made of plastic or metal and come in all sorts of colors, from green to white.

00;03;54;20 - 00;04;09;00

Alena Poulin

There are a lot of choices that go into the decision making. For example, when do you plan to purchase and put up your Christmas tree? 58% of Americans plan to put up their trees in November, either after Thanksgiving or for some of them, even earlier.

00;04;09;02 - 00;04;24;25

Caleb Stair

Those that plan to set up the tree earlier might go the artificial route to avoid the tree reaching its expiration date. Before December 25th rolls around. Additionally, they may prefer the longevity of a tree that can be reused year after year.

00;04;24;27 - 00;04;42;18

Alena Poulin

But plenty of people choose to purchase live trees. Some may prefer to reduce their plastic consumption, want to support their local or regional farmers, or maybe they view the process of picking out their tree each year as part of the tradition. One out of every four people who purchased real Christmas trees did so from a choose and cut farm.

00;04;42;21 - 00;04;48;18

Alena Poulin

This might indicate that there's an aspect of enjoyment of the experience that goes into their decision making.

00;04;48;21 - 00;05;11;01

Caleb Stair

Other places you could purchase real trees would be chain stores. They come right behind choosing cut farms, nurseries, retail lots. Even non-profits like the Boy Scouts sell real Christmas trees. Interestingly, younger generations are more likely than other generations to choose real trees, with 35% of 18 to 29 year olds planning to do so.

00;05;11;04 - 00;05;17;23

Alena Poulin

Regardless of the type of tree purchased. The economic impact of that purchase is profound. Which one is more affordable?

00;05;17;24 - 00;05;33;08

Caleb Stair

Data concerning pricing is a bit tricky to find, but based on data from the National Christmas Tree Association, the average price per real Christmas tree in 2018 was $78, while the average price for a fake tree was $104.

00;05;33;09 - 00;05;42;13

Alena Poulin

And that's not even counting the decorations. More than 40% of people plan on spending a $150 or more on their Christmas tree decorations.

00;05;42;19 - 00;05;52;25

Caleb Stair

While some Christmas trees are produced in Florida, most come from elsewhere in the United States. In terms of number of trees harvested. The biggest producers are Oregon and North Carolina.

00;05;52;27 - 00;06;10;28

Alena Poulin

Not only is North Carolina as a state, one of the biggest Christmas tree producers, if you break it down even further and look at the county level. Ashe County, North Carolina, along with Clackamas County, Oregon and Missaukee County, Michigan, account for one third of the Christmas trees cut and sold throughout the entire United States.

00;06;10;29 - 00;06;22;05

Caleb Stair

And so to get to the root of these trees and their economic impacts, we invited our extension colleagues, Jamie and Will, from NC State Extension to join us for this episode of the podcast.

00;06;22;08 - 00;06;44;24

Jamie Bookwalter

My name is Jamie Dinkins Bookwalter, I'm the Mountain Conifer IPM specialist for North Carolina. So that basically means that I deal a lot with the bugs and the pests, the insects and mites that live in Christmas trees. I help farmers and other stakeholders to make Christmas tree farming economically and environmentally sustainable, and a lot of times those things usually go hand in hand.

00;06;45;01 - 00;07;03;10

Will Kohlway

Hey everyone, I’m Will Kohlway, I’m the new extension specialist in Christmas tree production and marketing at NC State University. I help and serve other area agents in our Christmas tree production counties, which are great too. On the west which does primarily Frazier fir and really all the other Christmas trees that are grown in eastern North Carolina as well.

00;07;03;14 - 00;07;08;27

Will Kohlway

You have production concerns and issues and know kind of assist in improving our production practices.

00;07;09;00 - 00;07;10;11

Alena Poulin

Thanks for joining us, guys.

00;07;10;17 - 00;07;21;07

Caleb Stair

Extension agents are the boots on the ground for land grant universities. They kind of act as a go between, between the folks at the universities and those out in the field.

00;07;21;08 - 00;07;43;08

Jamie Bookwalter

It is very hands on. I mean, it is such a hands-on job. You personally know these folks. You've talked on their porches, you know, these are friends and you get to know their farm, you know, intimately because we spent a lot of time, you know, looking at the idiosyncrasies of somebody's land that they have spent a lot of time on themselves.

00;07;43;16 - 00;07;44;12

Jamie Bookwalter

Many of these farmers.

00;07;44;17 - 00;07;53;22

Alena Poulin

And so, to start off with, could you provide just a brief overview of, kind of what the forestry industry and specifically Christmas tree farms is like in North Carolina?

00;07;53;29 - 00;08;10;23

Will Kohlway

I can speak the most on Christmas tree production we have Frasier Fir which is your premiere Christmas tree, your Cadillac or Christmas trees. And due to its qualities as a Christmas tree, we are the second largest christmas tree producing state. We preserve a 300 million trees a year on quite a bit land.

00;08;10;25 - 00;08;31;14

Jamie Bookwalter

Yeah, it's a balancing act. I mean, it is not a cut and plant, plant and harvest in three months. This is, it's such a long game strategy trying to figure out what the market's going to look like in eight years. These farmers are such they're such optimists and they take on a lot of risk. It is a chess game.

00;08;31;19 - 00;08;43;04

Caleb Stair

These trees are kind of a big deal. In fact, the North Carolina Frazier fir has been chosen for the white House Christmas tree 16 times. That's more than any other species.

00;08;43;11 - 00;09;10;06

Jamie Bookwalter

Our ecosystem here in the southern Appalachian Mountains is so unique, because these are the remnants of boreal forests from the Pleistocene. So we are so lucky that we live in this unique area with these big mountains, in this temperate rainforest that we're able to grow these really amazing unicorn trees that have all of these characteristics that that can't be replicated in other species.

00;09;10;08 - 00;09;33;25

Will Kohlway

Yeah, It's a cool story, and I like talking about it. So Frazier Fir is actually, Abies fraseri, It's actually only found naturally in six pocket at the peaks of the Appalachian kind of right in the western part of Carolina, and edging into Tennessee and Virginia. They're actually glacier relics. So during the last ice age, some balsam type trees that were predecessors came down with the glaciers.

00;09;33;25 - 00;09;48;24

Will Kohlway

And then as they receded, the only place, they were really able to, you know, take seed and survive where the peaks of these Appalachian Mountains and over you know tens and thousands of years of evolution, they really became locally adapted to the mountains here.

00;09;48;26 - 00;10;18;07

Jamie Bookwalter

It is also an interesting crop in terms of how climate change is affecting this crop, because you know, this like I said before, this is a crop that it's the remnants of boreal forest. As the glaciers retreated, these forests were able to move up the mountainside and persist. And now with climate change where we are, I would say, struggling to continue to farm this tree that likes cold, wet, foggy conditions.

00;10;18;07 - 00;10;42;14

Jamie Bookwalter

And the climate is changing. So there's a lot of different aspects of this crop that can be examined and discussed in lenses that aren't just how to grow a tree, that's, you know, the climate change issue, invasive species issue, disease and how disease spreads through a population. And then of course, just, you know, the numbers and of making a farm, family farm.

00;10;42;14 - 00;10;44;04

Jamie Bookwalter

Work.

00;10;44;07 - 00;10;51;34

Jamie Bookwalter

And farm land, passing that farm on to the next generation lot. Lots of stuff. With these trees

00;10;51;34 - 00;10;58;27

Caleb Stair

Now, I probably comes as little surprise to you. All that storms? They're not great for trees. This includes Christmas trees.

00;10;58;28 - 00;11;09;09

Alena Poulin

Sadly, this year North Carolina was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene. The impacts from the storm were widespread and affected industry in a variety of ways.

00;11;09;12 - 00;11;33;29

Jamie Bookwalter

Much like the general damage across western North Carolina mountains, some farms were spared. Some farms suffered a lot of damage. But in some areas, if you have, if you had a bridge, it was destroyed. Many farms lost vehicles, roads, other infrastructure and whole acres were washed away into rivers and streams trying to rebuild that soil that was lost is going to be years of effort and money.

00;11;34;01 - 00;11;42;18

Caleb Stair

Due to the nature of the industry and the needs of the tree at its different life stages. The hardest hit portions of the industry were seedling producers.

00;11;42;20 - 00;12;05;04

Jamie Bookwalter

Some of the highest level of damage was incurred by farmers at grow seedlings, and seedlings are often grown near streams because nurseries need good water sources, and we also lost seedlings that were grown in greenhouses. Some farmers lost mature trees in landslides. And Avery County alone, the county director there estimated over $30 million in losses in his five highest volume growers.

00;12;05;05 - 00;12;22;21

Jamie Bookwalter

I spoke to the specialized agent for nurseries in western North Carolina, and he had estimated that a fourth of the nurseries grown in western North Carolina were impacted. So yeah, it's a mixed bag. Some had got away with no damage and others were extremely, extremely impacted.

00;12;22;23 - 00;12;44;00

Will Kohlway

Really where we see the I guess the largest impact was damage to the infrastructure. So the roads were damaged, farm equipment had been damaged, farm roots damaged. And you know, those have to get triaged and repaired in time because, you know, Hurricane Helene hit right ant the end of September and  October 1st. We have people out there already harvesting trees. And so, you know, it was it was a tight time, and all of our growers incurred

00;12;44;00 - 00;12;56;27

Will Kohlway

These huge extra costs early on to get those roads ready for the harvest season. And the kind of choose and cut that season, which is, you know, starts right now, like a week before Thanksgiving and right up to Christmas.

00;12;57;05 - 00;13;08;24

Alena Poulin

This year, the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association reported that there were not any impacts to the pricing or availability of their Christmas trees, in part thanks to rapid recovery action taken by the state.

00;13;08;25 - 00;13;29;02

Will Kohlway

We've had really phenomenal support with the, you know, all the organizations, the Department of Transportation in North Carolina, agents and growers are really trying to pinpoint, you know, these important roads we need so that they're ready in time. The thing I was like, I’ve been using the word tremendous because we have the tree for the white House actually in Avery county this year.

00;13;29;02 - 00;13;42;10

Will Kohlway

And that's one of our most heavily impacted counties from Helene. And, you know, they named it tremendous as kind of a representative of tremendous spirit our growers have up here to like resilience. Of growers and farmers to kind of weather these storms.

00;13;42;17 - 00;13;51;16

Alena Poulin

Because these trees aren't an annual crop. This may mean that the impacts of this year's storms on the Christmas tree market will be felt further down the line.

00;13;51;18 - 00;14;08;25

Will Kohlway

From seed to harvest. You're looking at 12 years to grow, a 6 to 7ft Fraiser fir. With three years in kind of like that, seedling stage of growth up often in greenhouse and lying out beds. And then, it's about four years old when you go out to the field and once you're all mature, you gain about a foot a year in growth.

00;14;08;27 - 00;14;17;20

Alena Poulin

However, efforts are being taken by extension agents, producers and policymakers to ensure the industry recovers stronger than ever.

00;14;17;23 - 00;14;36;13

Will Kohlway

Seedlings being intact. You know, we might see an impact, you know, eight years down the line, but it's also gives us a lot of time, here at extension and other NC state and other organizations to really get seedlings out and get to have been replanting and using some of the improved genetics in the Whitehill lab is, you know, generating to recoup that maybe gap with trees that grow faster.

00;14;36;15 - 00;14;46;18

Caleb Stair

Local sales can support farmers during these challenging times. And so the desire to contribute to resilience in these hard hit areas may even factor into purchasing decisions this holiday season.

00;14;46;25 - 00;15;15;25

Jamie Bookwalter

So I hope that we can impress upon your listeners how important it is to support, you know, when you're buying that tree at a lot, even if it's a lot, you are supporting western North Carolina and yourself, or you're supporting Virginia. There's a face behind that tree. The rest of this whole tree's life, this tree has created a whole ecosystem for other plants and animals and trees throughout its life that this has been giving back to the community around it for this tree's whole life.

00;15;15;27 - 00;15;34;15

Will Kohlway

Really like Jaime was seeing earlier, like when you buy a Christmas tree even if  from anywhere from North Caroline but all across the states, you're supporting a farmer being there, and that firmly supports the community. And that adds to the sustainability, not just to our environment because replant and grow, but also to our, you know, counties and communities.

00;15;34;17 - 00;15;40;08

Alena Poulin

So that in general is the state of the Christmas tree industry in North Carolina and in the US right now.

00;15;40;10 - 00;15;46;22

Caleb Stair

I think what we've learned here is from classic holiday movies to advertisements for Coca Cola.

00;15;46;24 - 00;15;48;05

Alena Poulin

Caleb, we're Pepsi school.

00;15;48;08 - 00;15;54;11

Caleb Stair

Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we're all bombarded each year with what an ideal Christmas is supposed to look like.

00;15;54;11 - 00;16;03;29

Alena Poulin

But the bottom line is that we all choose to celebrate or not celebrate the holidays in our own way. So whether you have a real tree that you chop down today.

00;16;03;29 - 00;16;15;21

Alena Poulin

Or an artificial tree that has lived in your attic for the last 360 days, or no tree at all, we hope you pause and reflect this holiday season on the economics of your holiday purchasing decisions.

00;16;15;21 - 00;16;23;09

Alena Poulin

And with that, we've reached the end of our final episode for the year. So, we want to take this moment to wish you a wonderful end to your 2024.

00;16;23;09 - 00;17;05;29

Caleb Stair

And we hope to see you back next year for another round of FRE lunch. If you've made it this far, you've finished the entire episode and we thank you for that. Tune in next time for more food for thought. Thanks again for joining us on this episode of FRE Lunch. We hope you'll come back again for seconds