It took 10 years to grow this Christmas tree. The price? $105
Since the trees were planted there has been a roll of the dice every day.
Unlike commodities like corn and soybeans, which Mr. Wyckoff grows on another 200 acres he owns, there is no good way to insure Christmas trees against the damage caused by extreme weather, or the effects of an overseas war or pandemic which freezes supply chains. , he added.
“Farmers are the biggest gamblers around,” said 57-year-old Mr. Wyckoff. His family has been growing Christmas trees in Belvidere, NJ, about an hour and a half drive from Midtown Manhattan, since his grandfather started the business in the 1950s.
Christmas trees grow slowly, about 12 to 12 inches per year, and can take 10 years from seed to harvest. Most of the trees he plants are 3 to 5 years old by the time he buys them from nurseries.
To keep up with costs, Mr. Wyckoff this year priced his trees to $15 per foot, or $105 for a seven-foot tree, compared to $14 per foot last year. Ten years ago, similar trees sold for $10 a foot, he said. The trees he sells include the popular Fraser fir, Norway spruce and Canaan and Douglas firs.
Despite the risks, trees remain Mr. Wyckoff’s most profitable crop. He expects to sell 7,000 this year, compared to 5,000 last year.
“We’re in a boom right now,” said Tim O’Connor, executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association. Before the pandemic, supply was tight, but then demand increased for trees that customers could pick and cut themselves outside.
Nationally, there were 15,000 Christmas tree farms with sales of more than $376 million in 2017, according to the latest available federal data. Bert Cregg, a Michigan State University horticulture professor and industry expert, said farmers can make a 50 percent profit on each tree. Mr Wyckoff said his profit was closer to 20 per cent per tree.
Some costs for Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm have increased sharply. Nearly all of Mr. Wyckoff’s equipment runs on diesel; it paid $4.70 per gallon this year, compared to $2.36 in 2018.
Climate change increases the risk of losing huge swaths of trees. Of the 10,000 he planted this year, 5,500 were lost to drought and floods. That cost him at least $27,500. In a normal year, he might lose 5 to 10 percent of his new trees.
The work is relentless. The farm has three full-time employees, but a rotating cast of up to 40 seasonal workers during busy periods. Three large mowers ($20,000 each) cut weeds each season, trees are pruned twice a year, and pests and diseases are monitored daily.
Mr. Wyckoff said he saved money by hiring high school students, getting help from local hunters and recruiting family members. His wife Leslie does the bookkeeping, his aunt Judy enjoys mowing and his 23-year-old son Johnny also works on the farm.
The family’s trees have won awards in national competitions and have decorated the White House, Mr. Wyckoff said. The family has met Michelle Obama And former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife.
While Mr. Wyckoff and industry experts have some concerns about the risk of another recession if demand falls, things are good for now.
Hector Ruiz, 75, recently drove from Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan in search of a Fraser fir. He left with a tree one and a half meters high. Most of the larger ones were sold out.
“But I’ll come back for those trees over there,” he said, pointing to the spruces still in the ground and reserved for next year.
Created by Eden Weingart, Andreas Hinderaker and Dagny Salas. Development continues Gabriel Gianordoli And Aliza Aufrichtig.