Photography by Jennifer Silverberg
Many Americans still purchase real trees just before Christmas. Tree farms, retail outlets, and tree lots—sponsored by civic organizations, churches, and other nonprofits—will see business until the final hours of Christmas Eve.
"Oh yeah, we’ll be selling trees until the last minute," says Eric Pearson of Summit Produce, which operates a tree lot at the Kirkwood Farmers Market. "We had customers on November 22, and we’ll have them on December 23." He says the most popular trees are Fraser firs and balsams because of their fragrance.
If you opted for a real tree, there's a good chance that it came from another state. In recent years, Missouri has seen a dramatic drop in real Christmas trees. From 2002 to 2007 (the last time the USDA Census of Agriculture measured), the state's tree production plummeted from 70 percent (from 92,483 to 27,344). “Production sites” dropped by 33 percent (from 196 to 131).
Nationwide, there's also been a decline in the demand for real trees. Last year, a poll for the National Christmas Tree Association found that U.S. consumers purchased 24.5 million farm-grown Christmas trees, a decline from 30.8 million in 2011—and the lowest figure since 2006. The mean average spent on a real tree was $41.30. (This is not a national price average, just the average of those who took part in the poll, the NCTA points out.)
Granted, last year's drought did limit availability. The number of consumers traveling for the holidays, the number of retail outlets offering trees, and the number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas also impacted sales.
But for those who prefer a real Christmas tree, neither prices nor the weather deterred them this year.
“It has been really cold," says Pearson. "But we’ve had steady customers."
