Fake trees compete with real in Christmas tradition

FAYETTE – By midmorning Saturday, dozens of families had chosen and cut their own Christmas trees at Young Family Tree Farm.

Even with temperatures in the teens and a blizzard on the way, customers in hats and bulky coats showed up to pick out their own trees, take rides in a tractor-pulled wagon and check out the gift shop.

Christmas tree growers, however, have a lot more than stormy weather to worry about.

The bigger threat is the increase in artificial tree sales.

Last year, 70 percent of all trees displayed in homes were of the fake variety, according to the National Christmas Tree Association’s annual survey. Only 30 percent of the displayed trees were real, accounting for 22.3 million trees, down from 27.8 million in 2001 and 32 million in 2000.

Jim Corliss, president of the National Christmas Tree Association and a tree farmer from Newburgh, said the real tree industry has lost significant market share to artificial tree sales in the past 40 years.

But he sees the industry surviving despite some concerns about a lack of young farmers coming along to replace today’s farmers, many of whom are in their 60s and 70s.

“I don’t worry much about it,” Corliss said. “As long as we create a demand for our product there will be people that will come along to fill that demand.”

For Chris and Jenn Blanche of Jay and their sons Caleb, 2, and Jordan, 8 months, you can throw the statistics out the window.

They stand next to their tree for a family photo, their noses and cheeks pink from the cold. They wouldn’t think of missing this annual rite.

“Tradition is important,” Jenn Blanche said.

In fact, choose-and-cut tree farms have become the No. 1 location where people now buy their trees, with 35 percent of all sales.

Retail lots account for 22 percent of sales, chain stores have 21 percent of the sales and nonprofit groups sell 16 percent of real trees, according to the Christmas tree association.

The association this year is projecting real tree sales to rise this holiday season to between 23 million and 28 million trees.

That’s good news for Maine’s tree farmers, who harvest between 275,000 and 300,000 Christmas trees each year, making the state 20th in the nation for production.