Which state leads the nation in Christmas tree production?

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Which state leads the nation in Christmas tree production?

Now that Thanksgiving is over, there's no reason to argue about whether it's acceptable to decorate for Christmas before Turkey Day (it is) and move on to more serious business, like which state sells the greatest quantity of America's most important crop: Christmas trees.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census of Agriculture declares Oregon the nation's prime producer of Christmas trees, and the data is hard to argue with. The Daily Yonder provides details.

Sarah Melotte for The Daily Yonder // The Rural Index

The Economic and Environmental Impact of Christmas Tree Farming

The USDA's Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years, collects data on land use, farm ownership, income, crop sales, and inventory, among other things. It started in 1840 as a way for government agencies and researchers to study American agriculture. 

In 2022, the most recent year of available data, Oregon sold $161.3 million in Christmas trees, accounting for 34% of all sales nationwide.

Oregon is home to approximately 48,400 acres of Christmas tree farms, primarily located in the western part of the state along the I-5 corridor, which starts north of Seattle, Washington, and ends in Southern California.

North Carolina is the nation's second-largest producer of Christmas trees. In 2022, North Carolina's Christmas tree sales totaled $119.6 million, making up a quarter of nationwide sales. North Carolina's tree farms are concentrated in the western part of the state, where the higher elevation of the Blue Ridge Mountain range makes for ideal growing conditions for these cold-loving trees. 

North Carolina and Oregon together made up 60% of the nation's Christmas tree sales in 2022.

Michigan is the third-largest Christmas tree producer in the nation, meanwhile, having sold $45 million in Christmas trees in 2022. Michigan produces Christmas trees on roughly 33,100 acres of land scattered throughout the state, from the icy, remote corners of the northern Lower Peninsula, to the rural towns in the south.

Washington state, the fourth-largest producer of Christmas trees, had $35 million in tree sales in 2022. Like Oregon, most of Washington's tree farms are concentrated along the I-5 corridor in the western part of the state.

However, sales are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the economic and environmental benefits of these festive crops. Cut-your-own Christmas tree farms are part of a growing agritourism movement in rural communities, according to the USDA. Data from the Census of Agriculture showed that agritourism revenue tripled between 2002 and 2017.

"Cut-your-own-tree farms provide a source of seasonal tourism, bringing extra dollars to the community when people stop for lunch or visit other businesses," said National Christmas Tree Association spokesperson Jill Sidebottom in an interview for a newsletter called Solutions Effect.

And because Christmas trees are often grown on rocky or steep terrain that does not support other crops, their production helps preserve land for agricultural use, according to Sidebottom.

"People can make money off of their land instead of selling it for vacation homes being built," she said.

This story was produced by The Daily Yonder and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.