Local Christmas trees in short supply in Delaware and Maryland

As Delawareans flock to decorate their homes with trees this holiday season, they may find fewer options than usual. 

A heartwarming tradition for many, buying real Christmas trees has remained popular despite the rise in artificial tree options.

"It’s a very rewarding business because you get all the families and the kids," said David Beede, owner of B&B Evergreens in Frankford. "There (are) so little family traditions left anymore, this is a great one to have."

However, a steadily shrinking number of farms in both Delaware and Maryland, a rainy summer and a tight national market have put pressure on the local evergreen economy. 

In 2017, 27.4 million real Christmas trees were purchased, according to a survey of 2,000 adults by the National Christmas Tree Association. And 27 percent of those were from choose-and-cut farms, like many of the small farms in Delmarva. 

This year, customers may have to search harder and pay a bit more to celebrate the annual tradition, said Gary Thomas, president of the Maryland Christmas Tree Association.

"Right now, the demand is higher than the supply," he said. 

Rainy year caused problems on tree farms

After operating his Christmas tree farm for three decades, Beede has almost no trees ready for sale this holiday season. 

His Sussex County farm fell prey to flooding and damage from deer and he lost many of his trees.

"This year is kind of a perfect storm for me," Beede said. "I have a lot of regular customers that are coming, but full trees — I just don’t have any."

In some ways Christmas trees are like any other crop; they require good soil, proper moisture and careful care to grow well.

But unlike most crops, Christmas trees require between seven and 17 years to mature from a seedling into the full-grown decoration beloved by many Americans.

"It's not a smart business model," joked Beede. "I can’t think of any other business where you have to wait eight years to sell your product."

Through all that time, the trees are vulnerable to disease and environmental conditions, such as flooding from excessive rain.

Some farms in Delaware and Maryland said they have struggled to produce enough full-grown trees to sell this year.

The number of local tree farms in the state is also shrinking, Thomas said. He recalls that 20 years ago the association had around 200 members. Now, there are only 70. 

As operators age and retire, he worries that the younger generation doesn't want to enter into an industry that requires so much work and patience.

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Jim Landis, president of the Delaware Christmas Tree Growers Association, said many growers across Sussex County are experiencing the same issues. 

Heavy rain that poured down on much of the Eastern Shore over the summer flooded the soil, which can cause rot leading to slow growth or death for trees.

Maryland farms seem to have fared a bit better when it comes to rainfall. 

At Nichols Tree Farm in Hebron, Marland, Bruce Nichols said he lost about 20 percent of his trees but still has a decent crop for sale.

At P&J Farms in Delmar, Maryland, Jay Bozman said this year's harvest wasn't impacted, though they lose did around 30 smaller trees.

National 'tight' market for trees

Farms that don't have enough trees to sell may turn to pre-cut trees shipped in from out of state to make up the slack. 

Often these trees come North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the largest Christmas tree suppliers on the East Coast, according to the 2012 census. 

Landis said he has brought in a number of trees from out of state to Landis Tree Farm in Harbeson, Delaware. They line the pre-cut trees up at their farm so customers who can't find a fresh local tree will have another option on site. 

"Quite frankly a lot of the trees that are out there are still small trees," said Landis. "We are going to have to supplement what we have."

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But importing trees has been more difficult this year for some. Trees that are ready this year were typically planted between 2008 and 2010.

Those years hit the Christmas tree industry hard, with a nationwide recession and an excess of trees digging into profits. 

Many operations went out of business or scaled back their planting during that time, said Doug Hundley, a seasonal spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association. 

That's led to what Hundley refers to as a "tight market" for trees over the past couple of years.

"We have had hundreds of calls from retailers, Boy Scout troops looking for trees that aren’t available," said Thomas in Maryland. "Everyone can get a tree, but they have to look for them and shop a little harder."

Local farms dwindle in Delaware and Maryland

Nichols has been growing Christmas trees since before he graduated high school.

"As a kid, I got some Norway spruce seedlings and started them and I’ve been doing it ever since," he said. 

Now he plants 6,000 to 7,000 trees every year, along with crops of corn and soybeans. 

He runs the operation alone, meeting customers in the parking lot and directing them out into the fields surrounding his home. 

The 69-year-old said he plans to keep farming the trees "as long as I’m around." But he's not sure what will happen after that. 

At the Maryland Christmas Tree Association, Thomas said he sees the average age of Christmas tree farmers steadily climbing. Most members are over 50. 

"I don’t know where the industry really goes going forward," said Thomas. "The small farm, there are not many people that want to take over."

Between 2002 and 2012, the latest available U.S. census, Christmas trees harvested declined by 44 percent in Maryland and 53 percent in Delaware.

Over the same time period, the number of farms that sold Christmas trees in Delaware dropped by over half.

The farms left say the demand outpaces the trees they can provide.

P&J Farms in Delmar typically opens for only two weekends before it sells out of trees.

In Hebron, Nichols said he has cut down on the signage for his farm because it just isn't necessary. He has more than enough customers.

And in Sussex County, where the population has grown faster than anywhere else in Delaware, demand has exploded, leading to increasing numbers of pre-cut trees shipped in from out of state, said Beede.

Future of local choose-and-cut farms

On a national level, Hundley said they have taken note of the trend of aging farmers and declining small farms. It's not an anomaly in the farming industry.

And similar to elsewhere in farming, he believes small tree farms may transfer ownership over to bigger lots when local farmers decide it's time to retire, consolidating the number of farms.

Still, he is hopeful for the future. High demand is good for the market and will help to raise prices, which he thinks will draw more people into the business. 

But, local farmers are less optimistic.

Many said they see more and more people leaving the industry and few entering. They said it's tough to start a new farm, knowing the crop you plant will not be ready for around eight years.

"I think by and large we will see more farms dwindle away," said Landis, a 78-year-old who grows trees as a retirement project. "Most of those farms are run by older people. We can only keep going so long."

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