Why do Christmas tree farmers cut and burn their trees?

This is a good question that I often wondered about also. So, I stopped one day to ask my neighbor why they were "giving up" on trees that I thought looked great from the road. As I walked up to where he and his crew were working I began to notice that the trees did not not look as good up close as they did from a distance. Some were very thinly branched on the shady side, some had bad bottom branches, some were off color in spots, some did not have very good tops, and a lot of other problems that made them less than desirable.

He agreed with me that it was a shame to have to go to the expense to cut down the trees after taking so many years to manage them to the size that they could be supplied to people for Christmas trees. He had even tried to sell the limbs for use in making Christmas wreaths. But the market in our area is over-supplied with a lot of Tree Farmers having trouble selling all of their trees. This brought up another problem all of us Christmas Tree Farmers are having. Fake trees from China have taken a lot of the Traditional market for REAL Farm Grown trees.

This is a shame since REAL Farm Grown trees are the best thing that we can do for the environment. The Fake trees from China are made from non-renewable resources in factories that are known to pollute the air and they contain lead from the coloring process. In addition, the statistics show that the average Fake tree is only used around 7 years and ends up in our landfills and will be there for centuries, if not forever.

An acre of REAL Farm Grown Christmas trees provide great wildlife habitat, produces enough oxygen to support approximately 8 people each year, capture carbon from the atmosphere, are pleasant to watch grow and provide income to local farmers and their families. As you mentioned a lot of municipalities are recycling REAL trees by mulching them and they are also used in a variety of other uses such as fish beds in lakes, sand traps along beaches, etc. So why was my neighbor burning the unmarketable trees on his farm?

The biggest problem is that most of us small farmers cannot afford to purchase the equipment needed to mulch or chip the trees on our property. Large cities are in a better position to spend $250,000 or more for mulching machines since they also mulch tree trimmings, pallets, and other woody material. They also have mulch production facilities that are producing a product that can be marketed to landscapers, homeowners, etc. This is not feasible in our rural area. So this is why my neighbor is cutting his "unsaleable" cull trees down and burning them. We also do this to a lesser degree on our farm as we try to prepare the land for another REAL Christmas tree plantation. We make our own wreaths for our customers and this has helped us utilize a lot of the cull trees that no one wants to buy.

However, we are often forced to burn dead and dying trees to help eliminate diseases. This helps us minimize the use a lot of pesticides and it saves us money in the production of the trees.

I know that I have taken a long time to answer your question. However, like most things, it is never as simple as we first think. Even for me, a Tree Farmer myself. Thank you for your interest and if you have other questions, I would be more than happy to try to answer them.

Earl Deal

Smokey Holler Tree Farm

Laurel Springs, NC