Like many agricultural products, Christmas trees were hit hard in some parts of the country due to this summer's historical drought, but Carroll tree farmers say they are expecting a good crop for this holiday season.
Mark Athey, of Breezy Trees Farm in Taylorsville, said that in a normal year, typically there are two big growth periods in the spring.
"This year we had a warm spell early, which brought out the first push, then it got cool and rainy, which basically shut down the second growth push this year for us," Athey wrote in an email.
It wasn't a huge deal though, he said, since the trees have held up well and look great.
"The real test is the young trees planted this year as they are most susceptible to extremes in temp and rain - either too much or too little," he said.
The Atheys planted about 500 new trees this year, and so far they have only had minimal loss. But back in 2001, their first year, they weren't so lucky.
"We planted about 2,500 trees and lost almost half due to drought, replanted the next year and lost half again due to rain," he said.
Christmas tree seedlings are planted on the tree farm when they're between 12 and 18 inches, Athey said, and under the right conditions, can grow a foot per year, meaning they can be ready for harvest in six to eight years. Though even with a few years of growth under way, the trees can still be vulnerable to extreme weather, he said.
Ron Sewell, of Sewell's Farm in Taneytown, is very optimistic about this year's upcoming tree harvest.
"We had some very timely rains and I think it's one of the best crops we've ever had in 30 years," he said. "We don't have as many of the larger trees as I would like to have for cut your own, like 12- to 14-foot trees, but that's not due to the drought - that's because we were heavily cut over the last three years."
Sewell said he did have some loss of the new trees that they planted this year, but not as bad as he expected, thanks to the use of irrigation.
"We always keep planting more than we think we need so we always have enough for our retail trees," he said. "I'm very pleased with the way they look at this point."
Rick Dungey, public relations manager for the National Christmas Tree Association, said that reports of Christmas trees being affected by drought have been overblown. Every year, somewhere in North America has dry, hot summer drought conditions.
"Of course, you feel bad for individual farms which have a higher than typical seedling mortality rate this year; they've lost that investment," Dungey wrote in an email. "But trees are not an annual yield crop and the sizes of trees harvested each year varies from 4-foot to 14-foot typically and can change from year to year, so no single planting/growing season's conditions can have a direct, measurable impact on the overall market for fresh cut Christmas Trees come December."
