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Christmas Tree Farmers Feeling Effects of Drought
By
Jeff
Franklin
 Lexington,
Ky., (Nov. 28, 2007) – Trees, like any agricultural product that
grows from the ground up, need water. Christmas trees included.
This year’s drought has taken its toll on Christmas tree farmers
in Kentucky, and it has not been just the lack of rain. A spring
freeze followed by a summer hail storm only added to their woes.
“The big trees survived it okay because they have a fairly well
developed root system,” said Bill Moody, a retired University of
Kentucky College of Agriculture professor who grows Christmas
trees on about two acres at his Fayette County home. “The
smaller seedlings just couldn’t stand it and looking down the
road, six to seven years, those losses really take a heavy
toll.”
Moody says he lost more than 50 percent of the seedlings he
planted two years ago and that is evident from the little brown
trees that stand out in the rows with the green ones that
survived. In a year when Thanksgiving arrived as early as
possible on the calendar, it should give Christmas tree farmers
an extra weekend between the two holidays for customers to come
out and cut a fresh tree but not for Moody.
“So this year we are only going to be open two weekends mainly
because we don’t have that many saleable trees,” Moody said.
“It’s going to hit us hard, but we still have some really nice
trees, we just don’t have that many.”
With the lack of rain the trees have not developed during the
growing season like they would in a year with ample rain. That’s
why Moody may not have as many trees as he would like to sell or
the public would like to buy.
“You will see them with not that much growth on the trees as
normal,” said Deborah Hill, UK extension forestry specialist.
“And even though we prune them to the correct shape for a
Christmas tree, I think you will be aware there is not as much
growth on those trees as you are used to seeing, especially if
you are a repeat customer and come to the same lot year after
year.”
Most of Moody’s clientele are repeat customers as is the case
for Dale Barker of Barker’s Christmas Tree Farm in another area
of Fayette County. Barker isn’t as concerned about the effects
of the drought this year as he is the future.
“Some of the larger trees, I don’t think we are seeing the
effect of what the drought has really done just yet,” said
Barker. “We will probably be wondering in a couple of years when
there is plenty of rain why the trees are dying. It’s not what
happens this year, it’s down the road.”
Barker, who grows about five acres of Christmas trees, doesn’t
see the drought having that much effect on the sale of his trees
this year. He says the trees just don’t have that deep green
color they normally have. He will be open every weekend between
Thanksgiving and Christmas including about three hours at night
during the week and his prices will stay the same as last year.
Most Christmas tree farms are small operations which serve as a
supplemental or seasonal income for the farmer. Therefore they
are not equipped to irrigate their trees especially in a severe
drought year.
“The fact of the matter is a lot of Christmas tree growers are
fairly small scale and are not into high tech, so that’s why
they are doing trees and not other kinds of agricultural
products,” said Hill. “It is not the norm for Christmas tree
plantations to be irrigated.”
Hill also pointed out that even if Christmas tree farmers could
irrigate, this year there were water restrictions due to the
drought, which would have prevented adequate watering. Hill
encourages Christmas tree farmers to use mulch around the base
of the tree to retain moisture and eliminate weeds which compete
for the nutrients. Barker does that with his trees, which might
be why he didn’t lose that many to the drought. Despite taking
these measures it’s hard to prepare for such a difficult growing
season.
“People just need to understand that everybody has been dry and
the trees went through it just like we did, and maybe the public
will be a little sympathetic to us,” Barker said.
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Contact: Deborah Hill 859-257-7610
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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