Weather, low dollar keep Christmas tree business booming

The Christmas tree business is booming for some growers this year, all thanks to a low Canadian dollar and high demand, says the former president of the New Brunswick Christmas Tree Growers Association.

AdamStone, who is also the owner of Hilltop Christmas Tree Farms outside Fredericton and in theFlorenceville-Bristolarea,exports the majority of his Christmas trees tothe United-States.

"This is year is our best year when it comes to sales yet," he said. "There's a shortage of trees this year in the U.S."

• N.B. Christmas tree farmers say it's 'impossible' to find workers
• Saint John highway Christmas tree brings joy to decorator's family
• Charlie Brown-like Christmas trees prove popular

So far this year, he's sold 18,000 trees to the eastern seaboard of the United- States and 17,000 trees to Western Canada, a region that used to rely on the U.S. for most of its trees, he said.

"They couldn't get the trees out of the U.S. this year," Stone said

As a result, Stone said, his wholesale price went up 10 per cent this year for trees sent to theU.S. and Western Canada, He hasn't seen such a jump since he started growing trees almost a decade ago.

"Our sales have been aggressive and [doing] quite well," said Stone, who sells his wholesale trees forbetween $20 and $30.

The industry in New Brunswick is still benefiting from the effects of the 2008 recession, when U.S. tree farmersdidn't plant as heavily as inprevious years, he said.

"Now there's not enough trees to supply the demand."

Stone expects the trend to continuefor the next two or three years.

A change in seasons

Warm summer temperatures can also affect success in the holidayseason.

And this year, those dry temperatures made Martha Bell nervous about her Christmas tree business.

"We really worried about it because if the weather's really dry, we're like any other farmer," she said. "The fertilizer doesn't take, you need moisture to bring that into the ground, and I worried about the needle retention."

Bell and her husband, Scotty, ownand maintainabout 20,000 trees in theFlorenceville-Bristolarea, and as the year wore on, the weather worked for them.

We knew early on in October that it was going to be a really good year.- Martha Bell

"Thisyear has been a textbook year," she said. "We've had enough moisture, we've had enough hot weather."

The dry weather also prevented insect infestations that the Christmas farm would normally get with damp weather, she said.

"We knew early on in October that it was going to be a really good year," Bell said.

She sells most ofher Christmas trees and wreaths to the U.S.

Industry has its challenges

But it hasn't been an easy year for everyone.

Cecil Coyof Coy's Christmas Trees in UpperGagetownspent the summer trimming andfertilizing the trees on his farm.

This summer was thedriesthe's seen since starting his tree-farming business in the early 1990s. And by the time it rained this fall, it was too late, he said.

Coy, who sells mostly to people in theOromoctoand UpperGagetownareas,said the weather had a hugeimpact on his trees.

"Some of them have a good colour but some of them [haven't]," said Coy, whocares for about 2,000 trees.

As a result, the tree farmer will have to wait until next year to sell a lot of hisChristmas trees.

Thatwill give them time to brighten up. He said there are close to 200 trees that are too yellow to cut down this season.

"You've got the trees you've got to get rid of them whether you make it or break it," he said