Christmas tree farmers say prices have stabilized this year and people are buying trees earlier

Every year, Christmas tree farms throughout Wisconsin help residents get their families and homes in the holiday spirit.

And this year, there’s more good news for tree seekers. For the first time in at least half a decade, average Christmas tree prices have remained the same as the previous year, said Greg Hann, promotions director for the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association and owner of Hann’s Christmas Farm in Oregon, Wis. 

The current average price of a 7-to-8-foot Fraser fir or Balsam tree ― the most common height and species of Christmas trees ― is between $95 and $110 in southern Wisconsin, according to Hann.

“I think we’re now at a plateau spot where we’ll be holding these prices for a while,” he said.

Before this season, prices rose annually over the past five years, starting at around $75 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Prices have increased through COVID because the popularity has been going up and up quite a bit to have a live tree. … Because more people were around, we had quite a demand,” Hann said.

In addition to growing demand, labor, fuel and fertilizer costs have climbed since the pandemic. At Hann’s farm, staff wages have gone up from about $10 per hour to between $16 and $20 per hour as workers have asked for more pay to keep up with the cost of living.

“That has to be added somewhere into the whole mix, so then the tree prices go up …,” he said. “If we ever see $2 a gallon for gas again, I think our whole economy would be very much sparked from something like that.”

Consumers can find cheaper Christmas trees closer to Wisconsin’s major tree production areas in the state’s central and northern regions. There, farmers like Hann don’t have to cover the trucking and fuel costs of transporting trees multiple hours south. Wages also are lower up north, where the cost of living isn’t as high, Hann said.

“You can definitely save money by driving two or three hours north of the Madison or Milwaukee area …,” he said. “You could probably gain back that $30.”

This is true at Silent Night Evergreens, a wholesale Christmas tree farm about 2 hours northwest of Milwaukee in the Marquette County village of Endeavor. The farm sells a limited number of “choose-and-cut” 7-to-8-foot Fraser firs and Balsams for between $77 and $84.

Live Christmas trees grow in popularity

Despite rising tree prices in recent years, Hann said he hasn’t seen a drop in customers ― perhaps because artificial trees, many of which are produced overseas, have also become more expensive due to increased shipping costs. He also noted that live trees have piqued the interest of younger consumers.

“I think it’s that newer generation of people (interested in) agri-tourism and coming to the farm and wanting to see things,” he said. “It’s neat to see that younger generation wanting to learn about how things are produced.”

If you’re still not convinced about getting a live tree, Hann emphasized the value and family time one can provide.

“The nice thing about a Christmas tree is, for the $100, what you really get. You know, you pump your tank of gas for $60, you go to a movie for $60, and it’s over. By coming here, you have the experience of the farm, you have the experience of your kids being together and being able to go cut a tree. Then, you take the tree, and you even have more time decorating it, and then it’s in your house for so long.”

People are getting Christmas trees earlier

Although sales have been strong so far this year, Hann said it’s been “odd” because this Thanksgiving was later than the past four years.

“Customers are funny because they’ll look at Thanksgiving and then decide on when they buy their tree,” he said. “If Thanksgiving is late, they’re dragging their feet and coming up later. If Thanksgiving is early, we’ll have the majority of our sales almost done by now like last year.”

David Chapman runs Silent Night Evergreens with his wife and family. In addition to shipping wholesale trees to over 100 nurseries and tree lots across the Midwest (and even some further U.S. states), Chapman’s farm offers choose-and-cut trees to central Wisconsin customers.

Chapman has worked on the farm since childhood and took over the operation in 2016. He said interest in choose-and-cut trees is “up a little bit” from previous years. As for trends among Christmas tree buyers, he said people are coming earlier each year.

In the past, the first and second weekends of December were the farm’s biggest business days, he continued. “Now, the weekend after Thanksgiving is a very busy one,” and some people are even picking up their trees before Turkey Day.

Chapman thinks this stems from the pandemic years, when tree demand was “very high” because consumers were spending more time at home. “There was a limited supply where … maybe people were showing up and didn’t get a tree, so, next year, they all come earlier.”

Although Christmas tree lifespans depend on the species and how well you care for and water your tree, Chapman suggests people hold off until after Thanksgiving because all cut trees have a finite shelf life.

Like at Hann’s farm, Chapman said this is the first year in a while that tree prices haven’t “made any major jumps.”

“That’s good because I think, for a lot of people, it’s a product that if it gets too expensive, families can do without,” he said. “I do worry about that as an industry. If prices get too high, you don’t want to be pricing families out.”

Journal Sentinel reporter Kelly Meyerhofer contributed to this report.

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