DURAND, Mich. – The Christmas tree industry in Michigan is seeing both increased demand and decreased supply, according to the Michigan Christmas Tree Association (MCTA).

“Today we’re seeing increased demand for real Christmas trees from millennials,” said Amy Start, executive director of the MCTA. “Especially with COVID last year, it was just about the only thing that people could do at the time. And millennials, like generations before them, are wanting to have the experience of a real Christmas tree.”

Start said it’s possible people in other states might see tight supplies of Christmas trees, but, “we’re lucky here in Michigan because we just grow so many trees in Michigan.”

Michigan is third in the nation in production of Christmas trees, behind only Oregon and North Carolina, in that order. According to Start, the most popular Christmas tree is the Fraser fir, due to its good needle retention. The Fraser fir constitutes 75 percent of the Christmas tree stock in Michigan. Michigan contributes about 2 million Christmas trees to the national market each year.

Any tightness of supply would come from the fact that many growers retired from the business in 2008 and 2009, Start added. “A lot of people who were into growing Christmas trees in the state got out of it at that time,” she stated. “A lot of people retired when the market went bad and now we’re starting to see the effects of that.”

Start said MCTA wanted to let people know that Michigan growers are participating again this year in the Trees for Troops program, which is a longstanding national program to distribute Christmas trees to military families across the country.

“Several farms in Michigan donate to Trees for Troops, including Tannenbaum Farms in Mason and Dutchman Farms in Manton, two of the large growers in the state,” she said. “We’ve been involved in Trees for Troops right from the get-go. Michigan farms will donate roughly 1,000 trees this year and have been doing this for many, many years. Our member farms have really rallied behind this despite the lack of supply at the wholesale level.”

According to Start, the Christmas tree pickup this year came off without a hitch. The main one took place at Tannenbaum Farms; others took place at Dutchman Farms and Wahmoff Farms Nursery, in Gobles.

FedEx Freight partners with the Trees for Troops program and provides the shipping and logistics for the trees to be picked up and delivered to military installations throughout the country. According to the MCTA, FedEx has logged more than 195,149 miles for Trees for Troops over the past 16 years.

To contribute to the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation/Trees for Troops program – a 501(c)(3) public charity – visit the web page at www.christmasspiritfoundation.org.