It´s the best of times for Christmas-tree harvesters in Oregon — but the worst of times could be looming. The value of this year´s harvest is expected to increase above last year´s record $151 million.
Oregon is the nation´s number one Christmas tree producer, supplying nearly a quarter of all Christmas trees sold in the United States. But some worry that drastically increased plantings by Oregon growers could lead to a glut in the market, and a resultant price drop. Last year alone, Oregon growers planted more than 10.5 million trees. That´s an 87 percent increase compared with new plantings in 1996 and well above the 8.1 million trees sold last year.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 5:36 pm