Minnesota’s Christmas Tree Growers Ready For the Season

CLEAR LAKE - Christmas Tree growers around the state are getting ready for their busiest season.

Jan Donelson of Clear Lake is the Executive Director of the "Minnesota Christmas Tree Association". She says our wet summer was great for the trees. However, the mild fall did present some challenges.

You need a frost to set the needles so they hold on. And, then on top of it, it's easier for us if it is cold - like it is today. So there are challenges when it is warm. You harvest a tree, then you have to go back and take care of it, before you can get it shipped to the lot.

Donelson says 90 percent of the Christmas Trees harvested in Minnesota stay in the state.  She says we're one of the top 10 Christmas Tree growing states.

Are we the top? No, we are not. There was a time when we were in the top three or four and it has gone down just because the generations of people that are growing Christmas Trees. The average age of a Christmas Tree grower is now over 50.

Donelson says the best way to know if your Christmas Tree that you're buying was grown locally is to just ask the seller. Or go directly to a local tree farm to pick it out.