Family tradition helps Christmas tree farms

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- It seems Christmas tree farms benefit from the fact that Mississippians like to pass down the tradition of choosing and cutting their own trees.

Jeff Wilson, horticulture specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said there are at least 22 Christmas tree farms scattered across the state serving the population who likes to choose and cut their own tree as the way to begin the Christmas season.

“The industry in Mississippi is small in comparison to other agriculture entities, but the market is strong and growing as several new farms have begun growing trees in the last five years,” Wilson said. “Tree growers are also selling additional products, like wreaths and swags for decoration.”

Robert Smith, co-owner of Smith’s Christmas Tree Farm in Moselle, said the industry had a very good growing year in most places.

“There was plenty of rain in the spring and the trees look good,” said Smith, who is also the Mississippi director of the Southern Christmas Tree Association. “The drought in the fall really didn’t hurt that much, but it slowed the trees down a little bit.”

Smith said the state’s growers try to produce 8-foot trees in about 3 years. Leyland cypress is the No. 1 seller, but Mississippi farms also grow Murray cypress, Virginia pines and Carolina sapphires.

“These trees grow relatively fast, so three to four years is an average growing time to get a tree to marketable size,” he said.

Smith has more than 2,500 trees ready to sell this year on nearly 35 acres in Jones County he has dedicated to Christmas trees. Smith has more than 10,000 trees that are kept in about a 7-year rotation, with new ones being planted after others are cut, and some are left to reach bigger sizes.

Smith’s Christmas Tree Farm has pines and red cedars that start at $5 per foot, with cypress, Virgina pines and Carolina sapphires running $7 a foot or more, depending on the size of the tree.

Joshua Granger, an associate professor of forestry in the MSU College of Forestry, said that the Christmas tree market is growing in the state in recent years.

“All our trees are domestic sales in the state or region,” Granger said. “People going out as a family, selecting the tree and making memories.”

Although it takes a lot of work to raise good Christmas trees, a younger cohort of growers is entering the business as some of the older growers are retiring.

“A lot of young farmers are trying to get into this market. They may have small acreage -- not enough to grow row crops, but enough to sell some trees,” Granger said.

Jessica Haley, co-owner of Holly Berry Hills Tree Farm in Saucier, works with her grandmother in the family Christmas tree business. She said the drought in recent years slowed tree growth considerably.

“I think the trees put on 6 to 7 inches of growth,” Haley said. “It will take a whole maybe year or two to sell what we would have sold this year.”

The biggest disease challenge facing Mississippi Christmas trees is a fungal foliar disease that primarily affects Leyland cypress. A fungicide is available to treat the disease, but it is very difficult to control it successfully, as it thrives in the state’s hot, humid climate.

Haley said disease was not as much as issue this year as it was in 2023 and 2024 when her farm in Harrison County lost about 300 trees to drought and disease.

“We have approximately 12 acres that we planted on and about 500 to 800 trees per field on seven fields,” she said. “To lose 350 trees is basically a whole field.”

Despite the challenges, growers stay in the business because the demand is there.

“I’ve asked a couple of customers over the years why they come to us, and we’ve had a lot of people tell us it’s a tradition,” Hayley said. “The kids just love it, and some of these parents were doing the same thing with their family when they were the kids ages.”