By Clint Thompson
Alabama Christmas trees are on the verge of being cut down for this year’s holiday season. Looks like most live trees have benefited from this year’s growing conditions, says Steve Mannhard, with Fish River Farms in Baldwin County, Alabama.
“They are in pretty good shape. They’re better than last year. We had a little better summer in terms of rain, and it wasn’t quite as hot and miserable as it was the previous summer. The previous summer did some serious damage, some of which didn’t show up until later,” Mannhard said. “We had another, for the third year in a row, a very dry fall. It’s changing, but we’re really not getting what we need as far as rain; even now, we’re getting a little bit.
“I think it’s across the board in terms of growers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, in general, it was a much better growing year. The trees are in really good shape.”
According to the most recent release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, all of Alabama is experiencing some level of drought-like conditions; ranging from abnormally dry to extremely dry. Baldwin County is either moderately dry or extremely dry.
“(The dry weather) wasn’t as bad as last year. Last year was pretty bad. It went on for three or four months, whereas this was only in October,” Mannhard said. “October is usually pretty dry.
“It’s still so warm, though. I’m sitting here, and the humidity is through the roof. It’s still in the 80s and nighttime temperatures, instead of being down in the 50s, they’re way up in the high 60s and maybe even 70s. Trees are still growing. They’re not dormant yet, but they’ll get there.”