Christmas tree production in the United States

Among the important Christmas tree producing areas in the U.S. are Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest.

A WB&E rail spur provided an outlet for forest products, coal, blueberries, and 1,500 Christmas trees annually.

"[1]" Despite the early pioneers of the industry, by the late 1940s 90 percent of all natural Christmas trees sold in the United States were still harvested from forests.

Expansion occurred in all major U.S. Christmas tree growing regions, Michigan, the Pacific Northwest and North Carolina.

As the number of individual farmers increased, better marketing strategies and promotion programs were developed.

[2] Helicopters became a fixture on large farms during the early 1980s as growers used them to move trees from the field to the shipping yard.

Oregon, however, had the most acreage devoted to the crop with 67,800 acres being used for Christmas tree farming.

California is the largest market for Pacific Northwest Christmas trees, purchasing 45% of the crop.

Other large foreign export destinations include China, Japan, Mexico and Philippines.

The majority of Christmas tree production occurs in the Willamette Valley region including Benton, Clackamas, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties.

The majority of Christmas tree production occurs in the western and southern portions of the Puget Sound region including Kitsap, Lewis, Mason and Thurston counties.

In the year 2021 Pennsylvania ranked 4th behind #1 Oregon, #2 North Carolina and #3 Michigan in Christmas trees harvested with 1,010,620 on 30,544 acres.

[11]Aside from Pennsylvania, several U.S. states in the Great Lakes region are key Christmas tree producers.

[18] The market for natural Christmas trees in the United States began to tumble when an oversupply during the late 1980s through the mid-1990s sent prices downward.

[25] The real versus artificial tree debate has been popular in mass media through the early 21st century.