Live Christmas trees are getting more expensive, but remain popular, say farmers

Live Christmas trees have become more expensive in the last few years, but they continue to be a popular option for many families, according to tree farmers.

Javid Gibson has owned Walker's Farm Fresh Trees in Bonfield, Ont. for six years, and said business has increased every year since he bought the farm.

It's one of the few remaining Christmas tree farms in northeastern Ontario, and Bonfield said many of his customers drive nearly 200 kilometres from Sudbury so they can pick and cut their own tree.

"We've seen a huge increase in the demand for real live Christmas trees," he said. "It's steadily progressed."

Gibson said his customers travel to his farm because they appreciate purchasing a sustainable product from a local business.

"A lot of the fake trees, you know, they are convenient for some folks and there's reasons for why some folks use them," he said.

"But predominantly, a lot of these trees are plastic and they're produced in not a very environmentally friendly way. And they're shipped over from far parts of the world."

Gibson said his farm also offers an experience a lot of families find more memorable than purchasing a tree in a store.

When customers arrive at the farm they get to choose the tree they want and cut it down themselves.

"A lot of them, you know, having young kids and whatnot, even like to bring the tree back all the way to the parking lot area as a part of the overall experience," he said.

Gibson said his main business is selling trees to retailers and to wholesalers for landscaping. 

That's allowed him to keep his prices consistent for customers who visit the farm.

"We've maintained our pricing for the families that come out to do what we call a cut your own operation," he said.

But in general, Christmas trees have gotten more expensive since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rising costs to grow trees

The Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario say prices have gone up five per cent in the last year. And there were bigger price increases in 2021 and 2022.

Gibson said one reason is that a lot of farmers have retired, and younger people haven't taken their operations. That's led to less supply.

It's also difficult for someone to start a new Christmas tree farm.

"It takes seven years to grow a tree," Gibson said.

"If you're a farm and you don't have your cycles in place, so to speak, or your rotation in place, you get years where you don't have trees available."

Shirley Brennan, the executive director of the Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario, said costs for farming equipment and fertilizer have also gone up significantly over the last few years.

"Unfortunately, we do have to pass things like that on to the consumer," she said.

Brennan said retailers also get to set their own prices for trees after they buy them from the farmers.

"Some of them we are seeing, you know, not so bad prices and then there's other ones where we're seeing ridiculous prices," she said.