Old McDonald had a farm, and on that farm he had some… Christmas trees.
Wisconsin ranks among the top states in Christmas tree sales, but picking out a tree right on the farm is a priceless experience for the merrymakers who have tried it.
“I grew up with an artifical tree and when I met my husband he said never had a fake tree and he never would,” said Jackie Fechter, who now co-owns the a Christmas tree farm on Indian Lore Road in West Bend with her husband, Dean.
The latest agricultural statistics available suggest there are around 36,000 acres of Christmas tree farms, which cut about 1.8 million trees per year. The 2002 survey, conducted by the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service, found Christmas trees bring slightly less than $50 million to the state’s economy every year.
A census by the National Agricultural Statistics Service for the same year suggests that number is only around $23 million – still good enough to put Wisconsin in the top six Christmas tree producing states. All 50 states grow some Christmas trees, but the big six account for 64 percent of all harvested, led by reigning champ Oregon.
When the WASS averaged Christmas tree sales against the number of households in the state, it found Wisconsin spends about $18 per household each year on Christmas greenery.
Individual trees are usually more expensive than that, but buying straight from the farm can often help save a few dollars.
“I beleive with our place, the biggest draw is the low prices. We’d rather work hard and serve more people than jack the prices up and serve less people,” Fechter said. “People have the understanding that Christmas tree farms are so expensive.”
Tree costs are tied to production costs. Farmers’ inventory only regenerates each 7 or 8 years for Balsam trees to as long as 17 years for Fraisers. They must consider the cost of not utilizing their land for other endeavors during the interim as land values in Washington County continue to climb.
When Fechter spoke to the Daily News, her husband was already starting to tag the trees mature enough to be harvested. Farmers must resist the temptation to cannibalize their crop following constant contact with the evergreens.
“When you first pull into the farm, the ones that we’ve landscaped would make beautiful Christmas trees,” Fechter said. “You do see that perfect tree out there and go, ‘Oh, that would make a nice one.’”
Farmers also cannot just sit and wait for their seedlings to start pulling in green – they often spend time in the offseason trimming and watering trees as neccessary.
Fechter said prices are actually comparable to the temporary lots which spring up around supermarkets and hardware stores in December – sometimes more, sometimes less. The advantages, however, are well worth it.
Christmas tree farms start up right after Thanksgiving, and often by the second weekend in December are operating at a holiday fever pitch. Many offer Christmas blow-outs reminescent of Courier & Ives, with hot cocoa, hayrides, bonfires, marshmallow roasts and even llamas.
Visiting a cut-your-own tree farm might make a tree less expensive, because the labor cost of cutting and transporting the tree is eliminated. The fun of you-pick, you-cut farms is the “family togetherness.” The Fechters usually take turns chopping at their chosen tennenbaum.
Phylis Gibbon has been taking her kids to Indian Lore since the Fechter’s daughter was in her third grade class at Holy Angels School six years ago. They usually take a hayride through the farm to check out the trees available for self-cutting.
“It always seemed like a good idea, but then we would get out there and it would be col and we’d just use one of the trees they had already cut,” Gibbon said. “Dean cuts them fresh so they haven’t been sitting on a lot from anywhere from a month to whenever.”
By cutting fresh trees as needed throughout the week, farms are able to offer trees that are still vital and more likely to make it to New Years’ without shriveling up.
“We’ve found that the trees last longer, they smell better,” Gibbon said. “The one we had last year actually was budding. We could’ve kept it up for a lot longer, but it gets to the point where you need some order back in your house.”
The tradition is lively each year, even as her kids grow up and become teenagers and high school students – demographics notorious for their humbuggery.
“I’m hoping my kids one day will take their families,” Gibbon said. “I think it’s a wonderful traditon for people. If they haven’t tried goign to a Christmas tree farm, it’s definitely worth the hour or two you’ll spend out there with your family.”