NEWS Christmas Trees are Good for WisconsinReporting and Videography By: Kathryn Minnick
Many people care about Christmas trees because they’re beautiful and festive, but Christmas trees are also good for Wisconsin’s economy and the environment. The Christmas tree industry in Wisconsin is worth about $50 million, according to Cheryl Nicholson, Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association. She said the figure includes sales of related items, such as seedlings, wreaths and garland. Wisconsin has over 1,300 Christmas tree growers and ranks fifth nationally in the number of trees harvested, Nicholson added. She said most growers run farms of less than 100 acres. Although Wisconsin has a lot of Christmas tree producers, growing Christmas trees isn’t easy, according to Bill Summers, owner of Summers Christmas Tree Farm in Middleton. “It is relatively hard to grow trees in Southern Wisconsin in the sense that to raise fir it takes moisture and the weather can’t be too hot,” Despite the challenge of producing Christmas trees, though, they are good for the environment, according to Nicholson. She also said Christmas trees can be recycled, with the mulch usable as mulch for gardening, making pathways or for shoreline restoration. Donna Mountford, co-owner of the Paint Farm, a Christmas tree farm in Poynette, noted Christmas trees are a renewable resource. She said for every tree cut at her farm, they probably plant about three more trees. |