Does anyone own or operate a Christmas tree farm?..Lou

[Lou66]

I have been thing about putting one in,, I have about 50 acres I can use,, it is about 800 feet wide and 3500 feet long,, the elevation is 22 ft at one end and 21 ft at the drainage end.. just about level as it gets plus no rocks,, I was thinking about 20 ft apart on the rows..so I can still cut and bale hay between the trees,, anyway should give me about 40 rows,, now down the row I was thinking maybe 10 ft. apart with a couple of 30 ft. gaps so I don't have to drive away to the end of the rows.. should give me around 12 thousands trees,, too many?.. What kind of tree? Cost of a tree?,, One of my sons went to a Christmas tree farm about two weeks ago and paid 65 dollars for a 6 ft. tree,, he cut it down and they stuck it in some netting,, How old is a 6 ft. tree? And last thing is I plan on raising the rows about two ft. good/ bad idea? How long will it be before I can start selling trees,, thanks Lou

 

[daugen]

No, I do neither, sorry. But maybe this will help:
Tree farms are very common in our area, any area with farm exemptions from expensive real estate taxes.
My caution is that many have not done well due to market saturation/too much competition for local demand.
Do you know the local competition? I'd drive around and take pictures of their trees, and identify them when you get home
if need be.

Will the area need to be fenced to keep munching animals out? Or getting trampled by a cattle herd, which I realize isn't all that likely near the water in TX.
Do you need a financial return within a specific number of years? This crop takes a while, multiple years in fact, at least three normally. Lot of cost factors.

And lastly, running hay equipment in years to come will get exciting when all those cut tree stumps appear. Drive safely.

my first paying job off the farm 50 years ago was cutting Christmas trees for fifty cents an hour, plus tips, at a tree farm several miles away. Today there are dozens of tree farms in the area.
Maybe they are all going to Walmarts somewhere, but you also need to figure out how to sell/wholesale your trees before you go buy them. Farm stand on the road? Firehouse? Local Boy Scouts? Advertising? Again, lots of cost issues to consider before starting your adventure.

Are you ever going to want to farm conventionally again in this area you've planted in trees? Those stumps have a cost to clear.
Sorry if this sounds like a wet blanket, not meant to be.

I would start off by googling Christmas tree farm trade magazine and see what the industry says are proper spacing and best performing evergreens for Christmas.
And I'd also see if the local nurseries needed a supply of more conventional trees also; you don't have to be 100% in evergreens, or anything for that matter.
Happy Holidays. Drew

 

[Lou66]

Thanks Drew for some more thoughts to consider,, there is one small tree farm about five acres,, 20 miles from me.. this land will never be farmed again with crops,, more than likely it will be used for housing if I ever decided to sell,, with in 50 miles radius the population is 3 million or more.. now do I want to put that kind of money or time?.. I guess I should set down and do a cost benefit analysis.. with the infor you given will help thanks again.. Lou

 

[jk96]

The first thing I would do is ask yourself if this is something you would love to do? Would you have a passion for it and is it something you would truly enjoy? Or, on the other hand is this just something you are thinking of doing to turn a quick buck? These questions and the answers to them will probably have the most influence on how successful this venture will be.

If you move forward with it I wish you the best of luck. Running any type of business on your own can be very stressful and difficult, especially the first 5-10 years. With that said, when successful it also brings with it many benefits and a great sense of pride in what you've accomplished.

 

[dmccarty]

Are there XMAS tree farms in your area? There are a lot of XMAS tree farms in NC but most I have seen are in the mountains. I did a bit of research when we bought our land years ago on XMAS trees but it is quite a bit of work spraying and shaping the trees. Those trees don't look good by themselves. Growing the trees is on side of the equation, who his going to buy them? Your state extension office should be helpful. I know the NC extension office has/had quite a bit of information and I remember seeing an organization or two for XMAS tree growers.

Later,
Dan

 

[ruffdog]

You don't just plant the trees and forget them. Do you have access to a tree planter? After they grow up some, you will have to start shearing them so they have a nice shape. You will have to educate your self on pests and diseases and have to have a sprayer to spray for those. The older the tree farm is, the more you have to treat for those too.

 

[Pilot]

I'm in Oregon, the largest Christmas tree producing state--and Clackamas County, where I live am is the #1 or #2 county in the state. But I don't grow Christmas trees, I grow timber, being a lazy retired forester.

Here's what I have observed: Trees are planted with a tree planter, 6 foot spacing, 1200 per acre. No extra space between rows. Shearing seems to start when trees are about 3 years old, depending on whether they are Douglas-fir or noble fir, which grows slower. DF's seem to be ready for harvest at about 6 years, nobles probably 8-10 years--just a guess on the nobles. Nobles are the high dollar, slower growing trees.

Harvesting starts early or mid November, runs until a week or 2 into December. Lousy weather at that time of year, rain, wind, temps about 35-45. Crews go out and cut the trees and bundle them for pickup by HELICOPTER--which is why there is no extra space between rows for equipment. Helicopters are faster and since no space is needed for equipment, there is more growing space. I timed a helicopter and he went 45 seconds between trips, several trees at a time. They aren't cheap.

After harvest, one of the largest operators has an excavator go out and pull & pile the stumps, burning them a short while later.

At some point they spray for weeds with ground crews.

I don't know what they do for fertilizer, but I am sure they do that, too.

None of the farms I have seen have any fencing--deer don't seem to be a problem. OTOH, there is no cover for them so they have better habitat elsewhere.

Every few years you see fewer acres planted because the previous year the market was saturated with trees. Then there is a boom year some time later and it looks like everyone is planting Christmas trees again.

One smart lady I knew had a guy lease her land for Christmas trees. She specified the species he could plant--DF's--and required him to leave one tree every 12 feet at harvest, which left 302 trees per acre. Those she grew for timber, and had zero reforestation cost.

 

[murphy1244]

I have at least 5 tree farms by me.

 

[Bikewanderer]

I've thought about this myself. All the farms near me are closing. I asked a few of them, they said they were just tired of doing it.

A few thoughts:

1) The money isn't made off christmas trees. It's the experience. People want to come out and get the hay ride on the tractor and cut their own tree and then come inside for warm cider and cookies while your employees shake the tree, bag it, and load it on top of your car. There's several liability concerns there.

2) In my area people pay $60 for an average size tree at a farm.

3) You need a lot of employees and some infrastructure to manage this.

4) It will take a lot of time to keep the trees pruned and sprayed.

 

[Bikewanderer]

Something I have been considering is an agribusiness based farm. I think in order to be successful it needs to focus on the total experience. It would need to be in a good location on a paved road with good visibility near a population center.

I picture a large barn filled with seasonal items and hand crafted stuff and a produce stand. The experience is coming out to tour the farm and pick your own apples, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc. It might have a corn maze, a christmas tree farm, a pumpkin patch, and sell retail produce. I think it could be done pretty well, lots of places near here have done parts of this but none have combined them together into something where people might go more than once a year.