Christmas tree shortage called worst in memory

Growers in the Kawarthas struggling to keep up with demand

You may be paying more for festive firs and seasonal spruces this year as demand outpaces production of Christmas trees in Kawartha Lakes and beyond.

“The Christmas tree industry is 10 years behind and it probably never will catch up,” said wholesale grower Paul Richardson of Pineneedle Farms Inc. in Pontypool.

Although the industry naturally goes through cycles of shortages, because tree growers can’t quickly pivot to meet demand, he said factors ranging from retiring growers with no one to take over the business, increasing impacts of climate change including more droughts to skyrocketing demand, have made the current Christmas tree shortage the most severe in his memory.

“Right now I think the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association said that, because of retirees, there’s between 10,000 and 20,000 acres of land that used to be in Christmas trees that isn’t anymore,” Richardson said.

Meanwhile, the next generation of adults is much more environmentally minded than his generation, he said, and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for live trees, where nothing goes to waste, has sharply increased.

“The demand for natural trees is increasing for various reasons, often environmental concerns. Christmas trees are a sustainable product once production meets demand,” said Carl Kimmett of the Optimist Club of Lindsay, which raises funds through Christmas trees sales every year, adding that they are capped at 525 trees this year due to a lack of supply.

“People started to go away from the artificial tree to the real tree so all of the sudden, lots were being sold out very quickly. They didn’t seem to care what they paid,” Richardson said.

Add to that Americans coming across the border willing to pay two or three dollars more per tree at wholesale because with their own shortage and a low exchange rate, they are still getting a bargain.

When his father ran Pineneedle Farms, he produced 60,000 Christmas trees annually, Richardson said.

“At one time in the 1960s, Pontypool was the largest area in North America for Christmas trees, now it’s basically only myself that moves any Christmas trees in Pontypool and we only move about 3,000 every year,” said the third-generation nursery and wholesale tree producer.

Even still, Richardson imports some of his wholesale Christmas trees from out of province to meet the demand, although technically they are still local trees.

“The grower that I purchase them from in New Brunswick actually grows the trees that I produced for him as a seedling.”

Like many, Richardson had pulled back from Christmas tree production for a few years, before all three of his sons joined the business. Now he plans to plant 5,000 to 10,000 a year to start replenishing his stock, but the difference won’t be seen for years.

Before the current shortage, cutyour-own Christmas tree lots would charge between $35 and $60 a tree, depending on size and type, whereas as now he is seeing prices in some areas jump to $80 and up, he said.

“Like anything, if there’s demand, prices go up.”

Ultimately, you can’t rush Mother Nature.

“We very rarely now have the ideal conditions, that’s the thing that is hurting us,” Richardson said of the unpredictability of the industry from the ongoing impacts of climate change to pest infestations like moths that are beyond grower’s control.

Even without those complications, growing Christmas trees is a years-long labour of love.

Depending on the type of tree, with spruce and pine growing the fastest and the ever-popular firs taking the longest to reach a height of six feet or above, the process takes seven to 12 years and requires constant care and hard physical labour.

“So it’s a lot of years without any money,” Richardson said.

Peterborough area farms offering cut-your-own and pre-cut Christmas trees include:

■ Murray’s Tree Farm, 8786 Highway 28 at Long Lake Road, about eight kilometres south of Apsley in North Kawartha Township. 705656-4912. Open Dec. 10, 11, 17 and 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fraser Fir, Balsam Fir, White Spruce and Scotch Pine available. Saws are provided. Free baling.

■ Potash Creek Farms, 400 Grassy Rd. near Omemee. 705-879-4489. Pre-cut balsam fir trees are $60. Cut-your-own spruce and pine start at $55, with wild spruce 10 to 25 feet available starting at $90. Parking has been expanded and the Cozy Shack offers hot chocolate and hot apple cider by a wood fire. Open Saturdays and Sundays to Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

■ Barrett’s Christmas Tree Farm, 31412 Williamson Rd., north of Cobourg, about 45 kilometres south of Peterborough. Open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Christmas Eve. You-cut trees are $60, limited selection of cut trees available. Pony rides and horse-drawn sleigh rides for the next three weekends. 905-3422622.

■ Merrylynd Farm, 3010 Highway 28 in Douro-Dummer Township does not sell Christmas trees but offers sleigh rides, skating, tobogganing and hot chocolate in season. 705-755-1081.