COLUMBUS, Ohio – Want to buy a Christmas tree this year? Whether it’s a live tree or an artificial one, you might have better luck asking Santa to bring you one.

As for live trees, supplies are difficult to come by thanks to a combination of supply chain disruptions and weather disasters influenced by climate change.

“Christmas tree growers have shipping issues because they can’t find trucks to take the trees that they do have to market,” said Jamie Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association. “Christmas trees are farmed across the nation, the majority of America’s trees are from Oregon and Washington, and they’ve taken the brunt of extreme weather events. Floods, heat waves, wildfires and smoke from the fires has really, really hampered growers in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.”

At the Werkmeister Christmas Tree Farm in Shepherdsville, Ky., selling live trees is a tradition that started in 1989. Farm owner Elizabeth Werkmeister Shafer plants nearly 700 trees a year on this 7-acre farm.

“We lose, depending on the year, anywhere between 30 and 50 percent just due to weather, pests and animals that like the tops of trees,” Shafer said.

This has left this second-generation Christmas tree farmer dependent on larger farms, bringing in more than 250 trees from Michigan. This year she’s noticed a shortage of trees coming in, trees like Blue Spruce and Black Hills Spruce, two of the trees she typically orders but aren’t available.

But the Christmas tree shortage isn’t completely widespread. In northwest Ohio, local farms like Stevens Gardens in Monclova and Wheeler Farms in Whitehouse (both in Lucas County) said the harvest was just fine.

Last August, Duke Wheeler’s corn maze was underwater due to the torrential rains in August, but the corn and Christmas tree crops were ideal.

“For Christmas trees it was a great year,” Wheeler said. “It was probably one of the best years ever for growing. We had so much water, we planted 5,600 trees this year. I only say about six or seven dead ones.”

Wheeler said that typically they lose between 10 to 15 percent of seedlings after planting, but not so much this year. Overall, the farm has around 60,000 to 70,000 trees of various heights, sizes and varieties.

“We haven’t felt any real shortage around here, said Stevens Gardens co-owner Debbie Stevens-Laux.”

As for the artificial trees, it’s much the same as for live trees – purchase now before it’s too late. Such Christmas tree vendors say they will have fewer trees available for sale this holiday season due to a double whammy of supply chain troubles and climate change.

“The demand this year is going to be extremely strong so consumers shouldn’t wait,” said Chris Butler, CEO of National Tree Company, a top importer and wholesales of artificial Christmas trees and holiday decorations.

Butler said a steady increase in consumer spending on home goods throughout the pandemic, overall fatigue from two years of COVID-19, as well as larger gatherings this winter due to vaccinations were indicators of higher demand this season.

“The quantities of artificial trees this year will be fewer than usual and of course the consumer will have to take the brunt of higher prices,” Butler said.

Butler said every year he pays for thousands of shipping containers to move products from manufacturing facilities in Chine to the United States. “Last year we paid $2,000 to $3,000 for containers and this year we’re paying in the region of $20,000, and so, the price of trees is clearly going up and that’s in part because we are low on them,” he said.

Supply chain issues have put a huge dent in the availability of artificial Christmas trees. “If you see something you like, buy it,” Warner said. “The ongoing supply chain disruptions have particularly affected artificial trees, which are mostly imported from Asia and taking longer than usual to get to the U.S.”