OXBOW, Maine — Steve Sherman, president of the Maine Christmas Tree Association, has been busy in recent weeks, preparing trees from his farm for shipment to market, and helping visitors to Deep in the Woods Gift Shop (operated by his wife, Judy Sherman) in selecting just the right trees for their homes. He’s no stranger to the business, having dedicated nearly 30 years to the industry.
“We started planting trees in 1988. We had started a wreath business in 1986 and thought trees would compliment that,” said Sherman, noting he now has 15 acres devoted to growing Christmas trees.
Sherman explained why he’s selected balsam fir as his tree of choice.
“Balsam fir is our native fir and is the easiest to grow here,” he said. “Trees are generally 4 years old when we put them out in the field. It takes another six to eight years to get them to marketable size. Seven-foot trees seem to be the most popular size,” he said.
Hundreds of trees are shipped annually to destinations outside of Maine.
“We sell wholesale trees in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. A trailer load would be from 600-800 trees, depending on grade and size ordered,” said Sherman.
Trees are also sold locally.
“We also offer choose-and-cut on our farm on the weekends. We have pre-cut trees at our gift shop throughout the week,” he said.
Sherman said pricing of trees for market varies.
“Trees are graded. Wholesale prices are negotiated by grade and size. Wholesale growers sell their trees by the truckload. Retail growers offer individual trees for sale to the consumer. Many growers sell their trees both ways,” said Sherman.
In the Caribou area, the unexpected closing of a popular Mapleton tree farm has had a major impact on local farms such as Goughan’s Tree Farm on the Fort Fairfield Road.
“We’ve been selling trees for about 25 years now,” said co-owner Mark Goughan. “With the closing of Richards Tree Farm, we saw a huge influx of new clientele this year.”
Goughan estimated that on a typical year in the past, they would sell about 200 trees to a group of mostly regular customers.
“Richards Tree Farm, however, was selling a much larger number, with an upward of 1,000 trees being sold every year,” Goughan added. “So, with those customers now in need for a new place to buy their trees, we saw a lot of new faces coming in this year.”
Goughan estimated that this year, his family’s Fort Fairfield Road tree farm has already sold approximately 450 trees.
“When they closed their doors on the day before Thanksgiving, it didn’t leave us much time to prepare for this drastic change,” Goughan added. “It was a total shock, and we just couldn’t handle that many new customers.”
Despite the demand on the rise, and the supply dwindling, Goughan did say that he hopes to still be selling trees through this weekend, and beyond that they will be taking things on a day-to-day basis.
“We are still planning to travel to other areas and cut down some more fresh trees, but this year I’d estimate that about two out of every three customers was a new one,” said Goughan. “I certainly don’t want to discourage people from buying trees from us in the future, because I truly am grateful for the new business, but the tree market is a difficult one. Trees take eight years to grow, so it’s going to take us some time to rebuild our inventory for the upcoming years.”
Through this hectic year of tree sales, Goughan also pointed out that this has been one of the worst years for trees in almost all of his 25 years of experience.
“With the weather patterns throughout November and December being filled with so much rain, then snow, then rain, and then snow, it’s been one of the worst years I can remember for trees,” Goughan added. “We’re going to help out as many customers as we can through the next week or so, but if we happen to run out, there are a number of other great places to buy trees, including Del Ramey of Woodland, who sells from the parking lot of the Methodist Church in Caribou.”
As far as the pricing of his Christmas trees, Goughan explained that the prices range depending on the height of the tree, and usually sell for about $5 per foot, so an eight-foot tree will typically go for about $40, but a variation of sizes and prices are still available.
Meanwhile, MCTA president Sherman said growing Christmas trees takes commitment.
“Make sure you are committed to a long-term process. Planting is the easy part; the job gets bigger as the trees grow. Anyone interested in growing Christmas trees should have a marketing plan several years before their first trees are ready to harvest,” he said. “The 2012 census of agriculture lists Maine Christmas trees at 195,000 cut.”
Sherman encourages anyone interested in the business to check out the MCTA website and consider becoming a member. He said the organization also annually provides trees to military families.
“We also support the Trees for Troops program. MCTA members contribute 300 trees for this program each year,” said Sherman.
Sherman stressed the importance of buying real trees over artificial.
“I think it is a way to support the local economy. Artificial trees are made in Asia,” said Sherman. Artificial trees are produced using petroleum-based products, while evergreens such as Sherman raises are a renewable resource, with health benefits that include the production of oxygen.
