Michigan farms change tradition to meet high demand for Christmas trees

By Anne Snabes, asnabes@detroitnews.com

Christmas tree farm house owners in Michigan expect one other season of excessive demand, so some within the southeastern a part of the state have bought pre-cut timber from different farms to extend their stock.

Huron Christmas Tree Farm in Huron Township, which opened Nov. 22, introduced in 350 pre-cut timber from a grower in Cheboygan County, stated Chad Zeien, who works on his father-in-law’s farm. He stated the farm has been “blessed with nice enterprise” in recent times, promoting the best high quality timber shortly.

“Now we have lots of good timber,” Zeien stated, “however they do not final lengthy they usually get picked fairly shortly.”

Elevated demand that started through the COVID-19 pandemic, together with a lowered provide of timber, pressured a number of southeastern Michigan Christmas tree farms to shut early last year. Farmers solely promote a sure variety of timber per season to allow them to be assured that sufficient timber will likely be accessible for years to return.

Some farms within the area stated they count on sturdy buyer curiosity once more this yr. A number of growers stated they introduced pre-cut timber to their farms this yr to assist their companies keep open longer or to supply taller timber than these accessible on their farms. Some have been promoting pre-cut timber for years, however Bob Ryan, proprietor of Ryan’s Nursery in Monroe County, is doing so for the primary time this yr.

“That is simply to attempt to lengthen my enterprise so I can keep open one other week,” Ryan stated.

In an indication of the demand and curiosity, Ryan stated some clients known as his farm or pulled into the farm’s driveway earlier than it even opened.

Michigan ranks third in the USA for probably the most Christmas timber reduce in 2022, based on the newest accessible information. The state harvests roughly 2 million timber every season.

Growers report that their crops “look good” and are “able to go,” stated Amy Begin, government director of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association. Many farms are open the weekend of Nov. 22 due to the late Thanksgiving in November this yr, she stated.

Why farms promote pre-cut timber

Begin stated some farms like to herald pre-cut timber as a result of they “haven’t got sufficient harvest themselves,” so the timber assist offset demand. She additionally stated that if a close-by farm is completely closed, it brings “lots of additional clients to your farm,” and the farm could not have sufficient timber to satisfy demand.

Begin, who’s in her fifties, says she now likes to purchase pre-cut timber.

“I am at some extent in my life the place it is like, ‘I am simply going to get a pre-cut tree… and name it good,’ as an alternative of possibly chopping it down with my household and stuff,” she stated. “Generally it is simply simpler to select it up.”

A lot of Michigan’s Christmas tree manufacturing comes from the wholesale market, Begin stated. Wholesale farms develop timber en masse and ship the timber to different farms, Christmas tree heaps and large field shops, she stated.

Blake Farms in Macomb County affords reduce and pre-cut timber from its personal farm. It additionally sells about 2,000 timber wholesale per season to different distributors, stated Brent Christensen, farm supervisor for Blake Farms. The corporate ships timber to plenty in Romeo, St. Clair, Attica in Lapeer County and the Chicago space.

Blake Farms has seen elevated curiosity in each its U-cut enterprise and wholesale, Christensen stated.

Over the previous two seasons, “the demand for wholesale timber has been far, excess of what I’m keen to help” or be capable of provide, he stated.

Depend on pre-cut timber

Ryan, the proprietor of Ryan’s Nursery, stated he’s making an attempt to increase this season by promoting pre-cut timber, which can enable his farm to proceed promoting his different merchandise longer. Considered one of his sons makes wreaths, and one other son makes apple cider donuts.

Final yr his farm closed across the second Friday in December and Ryan desires to remain open for at the very least one other week this yr.

Shopping for pre-cut timber additionally permits him to get extra Fraser firs, a well-liked tree species, he stated. He cannot elevate sufficient of these timber due to the soil situations they should thrive.

Zeien of Huron Christmas Tree Farm stated the 350 pre-cut timber the farm bought will “give clients an alternative choice.”

The Huron farm didn’t provide pre-cut timber final yr or in 2023 as a result of low provide from different components of the state made them too costly, stated Larry Davis, Zeien’s father-in-law and the farm’s proprietor. They used to purchase timber from a farm in Jackson County, however that closed, he stated.

This yr they had been in a position to buy timber from a farm in Cheboygan County, Zeien stated.

The Huron farm elevated the value of its pre-cut timber this yr however saved the value of its choose timber the identical, he stated. It prices extra to ship timber from Cheboygan County than from Jackson County, and the price of rising timber has additionally elevated, he stated.

“They’d extra prices to have the ability to elevate the tree,” he stated. “They handed it on to us, after which sadly we’ve got to go it on to the shopper.”

Caleb Matthes, the proprietor of Matthes Tree Farm in Monroe County, drove from Wisconsin to southeastern Michigan on Thursday in a semi-truck with about 500 Christmas timber in tow. He has been shopping for timber from the farm in Wisconsin for about six years, utilizing different farms.

The timber he transported had been 3 to 4 meters tall, which is taller than these on his farm. Matthes stated “greater timber” have grow to be more and more fashionable through the years. Individuals whose houses have excessive ceilings need tall timber, he stated.

“If they’ve 20-foot cathedral ceilings of their home, they do not need to put a 7-foot tree in there,” Matthes stated.

Matthes says he additionally buys pre-cut timber from the Kalamazoo space, however they’re smaller than these from Wisconsin. Matthes Tree Farm at the moment sells about two timber from the sphere for each pre-cut tree, he stated. Seven or eight years in the past he bought about twenty chosen and felled timber for each pre-cut tree. However his farm had bigger timber throughout that interval, Matthes stated.

The farm is making an attempt to “rebuild its inventory” by planting 7,000 to eight,000 timber a yr, he stated. Nevertheless it takes six to eight years to develop a six-foot tree and even longer to develop bigger timber, Matthes stated.

Matthes stated in recent times the farm stopped promoting Fraser fir and Canaan spruce – the 2 hottest species – mid-season, however continued to promote different varieties of reduce and reduce timber. It additionally continued to promote pre-cut Fraser fir and Canaan fir.

In these conditions, some clients had been hoping to chop down a tree themselves, and it is “barely completely different than what they deliberate,” he stated. Some could go elsewhere to attempt to discover a tree, whereas others could purchase a pre-cut tree, he stated.

Different farms wouldn’t have pre-cut timber

Invoice Westman, proprietor of Westman’s Tree Farm close to Dexter, stated he would not promote pre-cut timber and must purchase them in northern Michigan as a result of he would not need to pre-cut his personal timber. His farm has mentioned buying pre-cut Fraser firs, as there are solely shorter timber of that species, however that has not occurred.

Cathy Genovese, the proprietor of Sweet Cane Christmas Tree Farm close to Oxford, stated her farm shouldn’t be providing pre-cut timber this yr however has carried out so up to now. She stated it’s “fairly a bit of labor” to unload and arrange the timber, and he or she didn’t have employees to carry out these duties this yr.

In 2024, Sweet Cane closed its area of timber after Sunday, Dec. 1, whereas the pre-cut timber bought out by Dec. 7, she stated.

“This yr, as a result of we haven’t any pre-processing, we’ll in all probability be carried out very near the top of the month if the site visitors is similar,” Genovese stated, referring to late November. “If issues have to go additional, we’re after all open.”