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Posted by Daniel Workman Dec 6, 2006 |
European Christmas trees are traditionally unsheared. North Americans prefer close-sheared trees with dense foliage but with comparatively less space on which to hold decorations.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, each year almost 200,000 real Christmas trees are sold via the Internet or catalogue and are shipped mail-order in the U.S.
A typical retail Christmas tree is from 6 to 7 feet tall and takes about 7 years to grow. For each Christmas tree harvested, up to 3 seedlings are planted in its place during the following spring.
America has about 21,000 Christmas Tree growers, with over 100,000 full- or part-time employees. Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington are the top Christmas-producing states. The U.S. has about 500,000 acres of Christmas trees, which supplies the daily oxygen needs of about 9 million people.
While real Christmas trees are renewable and recyclable, artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics and potentially toxic metals like lead. Some 85% of artificial trees sold in the U.S. comes from China, America's second-largest import trade buddy (after Canada).
Some consumers prefer the convenience of artificial trees, finding that they can be used for several years and are therefore less expensive than real trees. At the end of the Christmas season artificial trees can be disassembled and stored compactly.
Yet the U.S. has found great success in exporting natural Christmas trees notably to Japan and Mexico.
Japan imports Christmas trees grown principally from Pacific Northwest states as well as British Columbia, Canada. Most trees exported to Japan are from 2 to 3 feet tall, small enough to fit on a table.
America exports almost one million Christmas trees to Mexico annually. Mexico is America's largest export market, but Mexico also imposes stiff restrictions on tree exports. For example, Mexico requires that Christmas trees be "shook" before export to Mexico. This forces American exporters to pay for expensive machinery to shake the Christmas trees. Also frustrating is the time-consuming paperwork to satisfy the Mexican bureaucracy that trees are "shooked". Some U.S. Christmas tree producers are throwing up their hands and are instead focusing on domestic markets where free trade is attainable.