Specialty Tree Farming

Specialty tree farmers grow trees for Christmas tree sales, landscape and nursery trade, fruit and nut trees, or specialty trees like bonsai starter material.

Christmas trees are most common, planted and harvested 6-10 years later.

Tree farming is long-term investment with delayed revenue but can be profitable per acre once established.

Success requires understanding tree species and growing, long-term planning and patience, pest and disease management, harvest and sales logistics, and potentially choose-and-cut agritourism.

Pricing varies—Christmas trees $40-80 retail, landscape trees $50-500+ depending on size and species, fruit tree whips $20-40.

Established Christmas tree farms can generate $20,000-50,000 per acre at harvest.

Startup costs include land purchase or lease (longer term commitment), tree seedlings or transplants ($1-3 each, 1,000-1,500 per acre), planting equipment or labor, mowing and maintenance equipment, potentially irrigation, shearing tools for shaping Christmas trees, harvest equipment, and business formation totaling $5,000-20,000 per acre plus land.

Building customer base involves choose-and-cut Christmas tree farm (agritourism), pre-cut sales to lots and retail, wholesale to landscape nurseries, potentially offering delivery and setup, creating farm experience with hot cocoa and wreaths, marketing as family tradition, targeting landscape contractors for landscape trees, or fruit tree sales to orchardists and homeowners.

Revenue comes from Christmas tree sales (retail or wholesale), landscape tree sales, potentially wreaths and greenery from trimmings, choose-and-cut agritourism, other farm products (pumpkins, flowers) while trees grow, or teaching tree growing.

Operating costs include annual shearing and maintenance, mowing between trees, pest and disease management, equipment and fuel, property taxes on land, marketing and signage, potentially seasonal labor for harvest and sales, and long wait for revenue (6-10 years).

Challenges include 6-10 year wait until first harvest, long-term land commitment, diseases and pests can destroy plantings, weather and climate risks, harvest is seasonal burst (December for Christmas trees), and competition from artificial trees and tree lots.

Success requires choosing appropriate species for climate and market, meticulous planning and record-keeping, perfect shearing and shaping (Christmas trees), potentially growing other crops while trees mature (pumpkins, flowers, vegetables), creating farm experience for choose-and-cut, diversifying tree types and markets, patience and long-term thinking, and potentially succession planting for annual harvest once established.

Tree farming is long-term agricultural investment.