GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Michigan is the nation's third largest producer of wholesale Christmas trees, after Oregon and North Carolina.
In 2013, the state sold 1.6 million trees, worth more than $30 million.
As many of us believe, there’s nothing quite like going out to a tree farm, to put you into the holiday spirit. For Adam Mckeague and his family, paying a visit to Vormittag Tree Farm, is a tradition.
“Every year we come here, we are happy with the selection, and it looks like they've got some great trees,” Mckeague said.
But there are talks this year, like in years past, about a national tree shortage. John Vormittag, the owner of the farm, said it has been busy so far this year, but there are fewer trees for sale.
“It’s because of the drought we had, we've got plenty of trees, everybody's going to get a tree, they just might be a little shorter,” Vormittag said.
The farm lost about 40 percent of its young trees in 2012.
“It takes 6 or 8 years to grow a tree," Vormittag said. "The ones that did survive were definitely affected by it, so they didn't get the good growth.”
Bert Cregg, a professor of horticulture and forestry at Michigan State University said across the country, there are enough trees to go around.
“There may be individual places in the country, or individual tree lots, that have trouble getting enough trees," Cregg said. "I've seen some indications from the pacific northwest, their growers are saying their trees are in short supply.”
That doesn’t impact us much in Michigan, where we get our trees locally or from surrounding states. But you might expect to pay a little more.
“Given demand is up, promotional efforts are working that the industry is doing, and we are looking at somewhat tighter supplies this year, people may see a little increase in prices,” Cregg said.
But the Mckeague family, and others out shopping for their perfect pine, believe you can't put a price, on finding the perfect fit.