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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Fresh-cut trees could use a little jingle

Clark County growers hope for marketing slogan

By , Columbian Political Writer
Published:
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Tree farmer Bruce Wiseman hopes a marketing campaign will boost the fresh-cut Christmas tree industry.
Tree farmer Bruce Wiseman hopes a marketing campaign will boost the fresh-cut Christmas tree industry. Photo Gallery

Dairy farmers have “Got Milk?”

Ranchers have “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.”

What about Christmas tree farmers?

“I don’t know what our slogan will be,” said Bruce Wiseman, a local Christmas tree grower.

But Wiseman is hoping a national marketing program, similar to those for other commodities such as beef and milk, will soon turn its attention to the fresh-cut Christmas tree industry.

“Some promotional program should be up and running by next Christmas,” he said, adding that there have been some delays.

A 15-cent assessment on every Christmas tree sold in the U.S. would help pay for the program, a move solidified in February when President Barack Obama signed the farm bill into law.

In Washington, the Christmas tree industry brings in about $42 million annually, putting the state fourth in the nation for Christmas tree production. The state’s Douglas, noble and grand firs are shipped across the country and overseas.

Washington has 637 Christmas tree farms; and Clark County is among the state’s most prolific Christmas tree producers.

But the industry could use a boost from the national program, Wiseman said.

If the advertising executives need any background as they craft their message, the 68-year-old tree farmer, who owns The Tree Wisemans in Ridgefield, has them covered.

“Christmas trees are a sustainable product, environmentally friendly, they provide jobs and support the U.S. economy,” he said.

Harder times

The fresh-cut Christmas tree industry has taken some hits in the past couple of years.

There’s ongoing competition from the artificial tree market. A labor dispute at West Coast ports slowed transport of many growers’ trees this season. And more recently, the Washington State Department of Agriculture detected an invasive population of the European gypsy moth northeast of Yacolt.

“If it were to get established here, it really would harm their ability to move products to market,” Randy Taylor, managing entomologist with the state’s department of agriculture, said of Christmas tree growers.

But it “appears to be isolated and small,” and “it doesn’t look like we’ll lose control,” he said.

And like most industries, tree farmers took a beating during the Great Recession.

“We lost some of the smaller growers,” Wiseman said.

Wiseman is hoping the new advertising campaign will make consumers think twice before purchasing a tree that comes in a box. The 15-cent assessment, part of the federal checkoff program, would also fund research to help the industry.

“Look up the difference between an artificial tree and a real tree. Artificial trees are made overseas by workers making minimum wage, made out of a petroleum-based product and they are not recyclable,” Wiseman said. “They are not a green product compared to a real Christmas tree.”

‘Tis a better season

This Christmas season has been more jolly for local growers than recent years.

One grower told Wiseman he sold out of trees this year well before the holiday.

“He was tickled pink,” Wiseman said adding overall the general consensus is “it’s been a positive year.”

Glen Thornton, who owns Thorntons’ Treeland, a U-cut Christmas tree farm in Clark County, said every year he enjoys seeing members of the same family.

Holidays can be stressful, with “pressures all around,” Thornton said.

When people visit his property, it’s about enjoying a nice family outing.

“A nice break in the country,” Thornton said.

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Columbian Political Writer