About Carol Ekarius Expertise I will answer questions relating to small-scale farming, hobby farming, and sustainable agriculture practices.
Experience With my husband, I have over 20 years of hands-on experience in agriculture, and I am the author of Small-Scale Livestock Farming and How To Build Animal Housing, as well as co-author of Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep. I am also a contributing editor at Hobby Farms magazine.
Publications Western Horseman
Stockman Grassfarmer
Hobby Farms
Question Do you know anything about growing christmas trees on a few acres .Could this be a side job that could be proftable or would this be a tough business to begin?
Answer Bob,
You asked yes-and-yes questions. I have known a couple of people who have done well growing and direct marketing Christmas trees on a small scale, but it can be a tough business to start, and it almost always takes a while to be profitable. Unless you are blessed with a tree lot that has really nice specimens in it, it will take at least seven years to have marketable trees from a new planting, though you may be able to begin marketing greens for boughs sooner.
There are two really great resources for you to contact to help with figuring out a plan of attack if you want to pursue a Christams tree business (or any other type of forestry endeavor): Each state has a state forestry department that can provide information on silvicultural practices that are appropriate to your part of the country. Find your state forestry agency at www.stateforesters.org and contact the office nearest you. The American Tree Farm System (www.treefarmsystem.org) is a nonprofit organization that works with private forest landowners, and they have a wealth of information.
In states with significant Christmas tree enterprises, there are associations of growers that can help you evaluate and understand marketing. Enter "Christmas trees site:.org" into the google search engine and it will list the associations in each state. Another resource for marketing planning is the cooperative extension service in your area. Most counties have an extension office listed in the phone book under the county name (e.g. Park County Cooperative Extension Service) but if you can't find it there, search at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/partners/state_partners.html.
