By Clint Thompson
Last year was a banner season for Christmas tree farms in Alabama. Jeremy Pickens, Alabama Assistant Extension Professor in Horticulture at Auburn University, expects more of the same this year.
In fact, consumers should not procrastinate too long to purchase a tree this holiday season.
“I think (the industry’s) holding steady and growing. We’re probably picking up, at least with our regional association, four members a year across three states. There’s a lot of interest in folks wanting to grow Christmas trees,” Pickens said. “Last year was a great year. They sold out early, record sales, and I expect them to do it this year, too.”
Pickens attributes the demand for Christmas trees to parents wanting the moment to celebrate with their children. It was especially evident last year as people got out of the house during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think people just enjoy that experience with their kids. They want to build those kodak memories or I guess you can say Facebook memories where they have the kids out there with Santa Claus and the Christmas trees,” Pickens said. “I know people that have moved from the Mobile area to Panama City (Fla.) and they’ll drive back to the Mobile area just to get their Christmas trees because they like going to that farm so much. They just like those memories instilled in their children.
“I think the (pandemic) had a big impact. We were already on that same sort of trajectory as far as increasing sales each year. The year before was a good year. The year before that was a good year. It was steadily growing, but I think the pandemic just threw some fuel on the fire and made more people want to get out.”