The Economics of Christmas Trees
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The Economics of Christmas Trees
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Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#2I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#3I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
This is because of the wildfires in the PNW, right? I remember hearing about this years ago.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#4This is a great article.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#5I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
Also was just musing about this since we cut a tree for Christmas yesterday.
I was feeling a but guilty harvesting a tree every year, wondering if fake was the way to go.
Reading the article made me wonder if neither choice was a good one.
It does look like "U-Cut" trees are cutting out the middleman(person) and putting money straight into the farmer's pocket. At $65 that's a much healthier profit margin than the $8-$10 they get selling to wholesalers.
And I suppose if there were made-in-the-USA fake trees that too could stimulate the local (U.S.) economy ... but that doesn't appear to be the case.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#6I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
Also was just musing about this since we cut a tree for Christmas yesterday. I was feeling a but guilty harvesting a tree every year, wondering if fake was the way to go. Reading the article made me wonder if neither choice was a good one. It does look like "U-Cut" trees are cutting out the middleman(person) and putting money straight into the farmer's pocket. At $65 that's a much healthier profit margin than the $8-…
Maybe buy a used artificial one, or just ask friends and relatives of they're getting rid of one?
For years I used my grandfather's old artificial tree. It's probably seen 30+ years of service and was still functional when we upgraded.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#7I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
Also was just musing about this since we cut a tree for Christmas yesterday. I was feeling a but guilty harvesting a tree every year, wondering if fake was the way to go. Reading the article made me wonder if neither choice was a good one. It does look like "U-Cut" trees are cutting out the middleman(person) and putting money straight into the farmer's pocket. At $65 that's a much healthier profit margin than the $8-…
Every single thing you buy has the same economics. It's not really a moral thing to worry about. Retailers are not evil for taking a cut, they have a very competitive business as well.
Plus the farms are quite sustainable, there's no risk of overfarming Christmas trees.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#8I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
Also was just musing about this since we cut a tree for Christmas yesterday. I was feeling a but guilty harvesting a tree every year, wondering if fake was the way to go. Reading the article made me wonder if neither choice was a good one. It does look like "U-Cut" trees are cutting out the middleman(person) and putting money straight into the farmer's pocket. At $65 that's a much healthier profit margin than the $8-…
I do wonder how the expert in the article came up with the assertion that fake was now environmentally friendly than real. Surely shipping a pile of plastic from China is worse for the environment than growing a real tree for 10 years.
Even if the plastic lasts for a decade, and the alternative is to buy 10 real trees over that same time period, I'd have thought the natural option would be better for the planet.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also was just musing about this since we cut a tree for Christmas yesterday. I was feeling a but guilty harvesting a tree every year, wondering if fake was the way to go. Reading the article made me wonder if neither choice was a good one. It does look like "U-Cut" trees are cutting out the middleman(person) and putting money straight into the farmer's pocket. At $65 that's a much healthier profit margin than the $8-…
I do wonder how the expert in the article came up with the assertion that fake was now environmentally friendly than real. Surely shipping a pile of plastic from China is worse for the environment than growing a real tree for 10 years. Even if the plastic lasts for a decade, and the alternative is to buy 10 real trees over that same time period, I'd have thought the natural option would be better for the planet.
I haven't made the math... but those plastic trees are much smaller and lighter than the real ones (and have a very standard size in a box that can be very well optimized), so shipping them from China on a container boat + container train + keeping them 10 years might not be that bad comparing to what is required to transport those natural trees every single year on trucks often across borders (lots of tree farms in Canada shipping to the US) + complicated transport OUT at the end of the season. Obviously you have to add the positive impact of having a tree growing and the CO2 they process. Just wanted to chime that it might not be that obvious what is really more eco-friendly.
I'm speaking as someone who would obviously prefer the plastic-free solution.
Re: The Economics of Christmas Trees
#10I was just discussing tree farm economics with the guy who runs the farm we bought from this year. Our normal place was closed this year, and he told me a number of his local competitors only opened for one weekend. The trees this year we’re on the short side because of supply issues from the previous years.
Also was just musing about this since we cut a tree for Christmas yesterday. I was feeling a but guilty harvesting a tree every year, wondering if fake was the way to go. Reading the article made me wonder if neither choice was a good one. It does look like "U-Cut" trees are cutting out the middleman(person) and putting money straight into the farmer's pocket. At $65 that's a much healthier profit margin than the $8-…
Don’t feel guilty about harvesting trees. This is literally a carbon capture business. They are not cutting them down from the wilderness.