The season is jolly for West Michigan Christmas tree farms
TALLMADGE TWP. — While drought has plagued the Christmas tree supply across various parts of the country, this season has been a jolly one for West Michigan farms.
John Vormittag of Vormittag Tree Farm has been pleased with the harvest, including their most popular species.
“They’re all doing good,” Vormittag told WOOD TV-8. “Frasier firs, you know, the number one, the number one tree, they seem to be, they’re doing well.”
MSU Extension Educator Bill Lindberg said some growers are calling it one of the best harvests they’ve ever had.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that from a couple of other people too,” Lindberg said. “That just very good growing conditions, great growth this year and also just high demand for trees.”
It takes up to eight years for a tree to become large enough to harvest, which means it wasn’t just this year’s good weather that played a role in such a successful season.
“Trees grow over multiple years before they’re ready for harvest,” Lindberg said. “So, one year leads to the next, so several good years for good growth on the trees is really nice.”
At Vormittag Farms, it comes down to one word.
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“Consistency. I like it to be consistent,” Vormittag said. “Don’t like real hot spells, real dry spells.”
While trees are going fast, Vormittag said there’s still time to harvest, and they make it as easy as they can.
“We got saws, we got twine, we drill them, shake them and bale them. We even sell tree stands,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: The season is jolly for West Michigan Christmas tree farms
