NEVERGREEN: Growing Christmas trees is no longer...

NEVERGREEN: Growing Christmas trees is no longer the booming business it was in Orange County. Major competitors keep tree sales within the consumers’ price range. That means land here is too valuable for such a low-profit product. Christmas tree production is now in the 30,000-acre range, less than half of what it was four years ago. . . . “Nobody’s going to lease you land for a tree farm if they can sell it for a housing development,” explains a spokeswoman for Peltzer Pines tree farms here.

Tree Trimming

Christmas tree production in the county is less than half what it was four years ago: ‘87: 77,550 ‘88: 77,550 ‘89: 70,000 ‘90: 50,000 ‘91: 33,750 Source: Orange County Agricultural Commissioner