Local Christmas tree farms face shortened season due to high demand and low inventory

The impending Thanksgiving holiday often inspires many folks to begin thinking about Christmas. Black Friday and Small Business Saturday get some people focused on scoring the elusive "perfect gift" for those on their holiday list. Others begin thinking about bundling the family up in their warmest winter gear to trek over the hills of one of Decorah's local Christmas tree farms in search of a fresh Christmas tree to bring home to decorate. This year, local Christmas tree farmers encourage folks hoping to choose-and-cut their own Christmas tree to plan ahead and check availability before heading out as many tree farms face high demand and low tree inventory. Increased interest in cutting one's own Christmas tree was one of the "happy" benefits of COVID, according to Andy Johnson of Oneota Slopes Christmas Tree Farm. Johnson said that COVID encouraged families to spend more time together and more time outside – which brought many new families to local tree farms to select and cut their own fresh trees for Christmas. However, the increase in demand combined with strains on the national Christmas tree supply chain and environmental factors have left many local tree farms with low inventory this year. Johnson explained in an email that climate change related production impacts, such as increased disease, drought stress and fire have also contributed to low inventory this season. "Our tree farm works on a 10-12 year cycle from planting of baby seedlings, to trees going to happy homes," Johnson said. "This means the annual inventory is fairly fixed, and increases in production require a long planning horizon!" Due to these constraints, local tree farms are adjusting their operating plans for the 2023 season. Johnson said that, from his experience, it is almost impossible to close a tree farm in the middle of a day and even a weekend, especially with a high volume of customers present, so Oneota Slopes is trying out a new system. "This year, we decided a reservation system would allow us to stay open, limit sales to what inventory can handle, and still give many households and families a chance to come out to the farm for a tree again," Johnson said. Local tree farm information for 2023 Oneota Slopes, located at 2665 Lannon Hill Road, 52101 about 8 miles northeast of Decorah, Iowa, is currently taking choose-and-cut reservations and will only be open the first two weekends in December. Bappe's Holiday Pines, located at 1846 Whitetail Rd, Decorah, Iowa, opens the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, Nov. 24 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to their Facebook page, they are anticipating a larger volume of visitors the first weekend, and are asking people to plan accordingly and help to spread the word. The schedule for the rest of the year will be determined by how many visitors they have during the first weekend. Evergreen Hills Tree Farm, located at 1839 Whitetail Rd Decorah, Iowa, is closed for the season. "Due to the increased demand for Christmas trees over the last several years, we will not have an adequate supply to be able to open the farm for choose and cut this year," a message on their website reads. "This was a very difficult decision to make, knowing that we will disappoint many loyal customers. We do not have contact information for everyone that has visited the farm, so we would appreciate any help in spreading the word. Please continue to monitor this website for any updates for 2024 and beyond."