Christmas Trees Pt 2

Christmas Trees Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. An over-supply of Christmas trees in the past decade has resulted in reduced production the past couple of years, but the industry remains strong.

That's according to Bryan Ostlund, Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, who says the supply chain is getting our trees where they need to be ...

BRYAN OSTLUND ... "Seems like some of the issues that we look toward like transportation and trucks to get these trees out of the Northwest and places all the way to the east coast, southeast, some of the ports if they're going by water somewhere like Hawaii, the Pacific Rim or even down into the Caribbean. Trucking has been good this year. Labor's always seems to be getting tighter, but it's fine, we're getting through. Growers, I think, would probably like a few more hands-on-deck so to speak, but it's all manageable. But mother-nature's been good to us this year. It's been mild, it's been wet, but at least it hasn't been snowy or icy. The trees look good!"

And as for the best sellers again this year ...

BRYAN OSTLUND ... "Noble Fir, so between Noble Fir and Douglas Fir, that's slightly more than 90 percent of our production. Then there's some species like Grand Fir, new species coming along that seem to have some of the great characteristics that we're looking for, Nordman, Turkish Fir. But the species that has the number one spot is Noble Fir."

Ostlund says even with the drop in production over the past two years, meeting the demand of Christmas trees in the Pacific Northwest should remain well within reach.

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