Are Christmas trees in shortage again? What Canadian growers say now
Larry Whitehead is getting ready to open his Christmas tree farm for the season.
Whitehead, owner Red Truck Trees in South Surrey, B.C., will open for business Nov. 24. For 15 years, he has been growing Christmas trees, but over the past few years it’s been a challenge to do so, and that is no different this year.
“We had a drought in the province of British Columbia this summer, and also for the past two or three summers, so many growers lost a lot of their seedlings. The new plantings really don’t have a root system to withstand much drought,” said Whitehead, who is also the director of the BC Christmas Tree Association.
“It’s an indication of climate change. Farming any type of crop is always a challenge. It’s weather dependent, but really the last four years, it’s been very dry every summer and without irrigation, it’s probably very difficult to grow Christmas trees anymore.”
Climate change aside, Canada’s Christmas tree sector continues to face two persistent issues: a dwindling supply of farmers and high demand, said Shirley Brennan, the executive director of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association.
Over the last decade, Canada has lost more than 20,000 acres of Christmas tree farms solely due to farmers aging out, retiring or dying without a succession plan in place, Brennan said.
The industry has also seen demand increase “beyond what we could have expected,” Brennan said. That has resulted in it becoming a $100-million industry in 2021, compared with a $53-million industry in 2015, Brennan added.
The solution to meeting that demand is getting more farmers on board. It takes about 10 years to grow a good Christmas tree, and the industry is noticing more interest from younger farmers, Brennan said.
“The farmers
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