Amid wild cost fluctuations and extreme weather conditions, a small army of workers toiled for years at Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm in Belvidere, New Jersey. The goal? Producing this year’s crop, including 7-foot (2.1 metres)
Norway Spruces, which are sold for US$105 ($165).

It begins with planting 10,000 young trees annually on 70 acres, said John Wyckoff, the owner. That cost him US$50,000 ($80,000) this year, before fertiliser and clearing land. “We throw money in the dirt, and pray for the best,” he said.

The biggest expense is labour, with about 30 per cent of a tree’s cost tied to year-round care — from shearing and shaping it by hand, to the frenetic cutting season after Thanksgiving, when up to 40 people work.

The annual cost for tree fertiliser peaked in 2021 at US$35,000 ($56,000), he said. That is up from US$15,000 ($24,000), before the pandemic and the war in Ukraine drove up the price. It has now stabilised around US$20,000 ($32,000).

After a customer picks out a tree, workers remove loose needles and wrap it in a web of twine using a baler machine. This year, Wyckoff paid US$1,380 ($2,200) for 12 boxes of twine.

Five baler machines, which cost a total of US$69,000 ($110,000), are stationed near customers’ cars, where two workers slide each tree, base first, into the whirring cylinder.

Then there are the vehicles. Wyckoff has a dozen tractors, including a used 2002 model he bought last year for US$80,000 ($128,000), nearly as much as when it was new. Like many farmers, he prefers the older tractor’s reliability.

Every day since the trees were planted has been a roll of the dice.

Unlike commodities like corn and soybeans, which Wyckoff grows on another 90 acres he owns, there is no good way to insure Christmas trees against the harm caused by extreme weather, or the effects of an overseas war or a pandemic that freezes supply chains, he said.

“Farmers are the biggest gamblers there are,” said Wyckoff, 57. His family has been growing Christmas trees in Belvidere, about a 90-minute drive from New York City, since his grandfather started the business in the 1950s.

Christmas trees grow slowly, about 12 to 14 inches (30 to 35cm) a year, and can take 10 years to go from seed to harvest. Most trees he plants are 3 to 5 years old by the time he buys them from nurseries.

To keep up with costs, Wyckoff raised the price of his trees this year to US$15 ($24) a foot, or US$105 ($165) for a 7-foot tree, up from US$14 ($22) a foot last year. A decade ago, similar trees sold for US$10 ($15) a foot, he said. The trees he sells include the popular Fraser fir, the Norway Spruce and the Canaan and Douglas firs.

Despite the risks, the trees remain Wyckoff’s most profitable crop. He expects to sell 7,000 this year, up from 5,000 last year.

“We’re currently in a boom period,” said Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association. Supply was tight before the pandemic, and then demand soared for trees that customers could pick and cut themselves outdoors.

Nationally, there were 15,000 Christmas tree farms with sales of more than US$376 million ($585 million) in 2017, according to the latest available federal data. Bert Cregg, a horticulture professor at Michigan State University and industry expert, said farmers can make a 50 per cent profit on each tree. Wyckoff said his profit was closer to 20 per cent a tree.

Some costs have grown sharply for Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm. Nearly all of Wyckoff’s equipment runs on diesel fuel; he paid US$4.70 ($7.49) a gallon this year, up from US$2.36 ($3.76) in 2018.

Climate change adds to the risk that he could lose huge swaths of trees. Of the 10,000 he planted this year, 5,500 were lost to drought and flooding. That cost him at least US$27,500 ($43,800). In a typical year, he might lose 5 per cent to 10 per cent of his new trees.

The work is relentless. The farm has three full-time employees but a rotating cast of up to 40 seasonal workers during busy periods. Three large mowers (US$20,000 each) cut down weeds every season, trees are pruned twice a year and pests and disease are monitored daily.

Wyckoff said he saved money by hiring high school students, getting help from local hunters and recruiting family members. His wife, Leslie, does accounting, his aunt Judy loves to mow and his 23-year-old son, Johnny, also works the farm.

The family’s trees have won awards in national competitions and have adorned the White House, Wyckoff said. The family has met Michelle Obama and former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife.

Although Wyckoff and industry experts have some concerns about the risk of another downturn if demand drops, business is good for now.

Hector Ruiz, 75, recently drove from New York City in search of a Fraser fir. He left with a tree shy of 5 feet tall. Most of the bigger ones were sold out.

“But I’m coming back for those trees right there,” he said, pointing to firs still in the ground and reserved for next year.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Written by: Stefanos Chen

Photographs by: Bryan Anselm

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