DANVILLE — Each year, Indiana farmers produce around 200,000 Christmas trees. This can have a big impact on local communities, but growing trees has a unique challenge.
Ask a farmer about their crop for a year, and they can tell you their yield. For Christmas tree farmers, they may not know if their crop is successful for several years until the trees are fully grown.
"We got a good crop," said Joe Evans, the co-owner of Evans Whispering Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Danville. "But they've been here ten, twelve years."
Evans says the most popular tree this year is the Norway Spruce. He also says Scotch Pine and White Pine do well in central Indiana's climate and soil.
Evans brings in Fraser Firs from northern Indiana. Fraser Fir trees grow better there because they have sandy soil.
Evans started his farm in 1983 and sold his first trees in 1989.
One of the biggest issues he faces is drought.
"We need rain in the spring and summer," he explained. "This year, I thought we were doing good. Then it dried up."
Evans has never had irrigation on his farm, but he has started to consider adding irrigation in the future, especially for the younger trees. This would be a costly addition to his farm, but it could save them from losing trees.
"In 2022, we lost probably 80 to 90% of everything we planted," he recounted, but that wasn't the only tough year. "In '10, '11, '12, we had a drought. I was growing Canaan Fir, and I lost probably 90% of all the Canaan Fir, from six feet to the ones we planted that year."
Despite the difficulties, the farm has been very successful. On the weekend following Thanksgiving this year, they sold over 500 trees.
The farm decided to close one of their fields for the season. While there are still about 800 trees left in the field, they know they need to keep those trees growing and stocked for next year.
The farm is still open and has plenty of trees for you to choose from. You can learn more about their farm here.
There are 200 Christmas tree farms across Indiana, which produce over 200,000 trees each year. This ranks the state 11th in the nation for Christmas tree production.
"That provides a large local impact in terms of dollars back to those local communities," says Regan Herr, the communications director for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.
"On one acre of land, you can grow almost 1,200 Christmas trees," Herr explained. "It's a good use of our agricultural land."
If you are still in need of a Christmas tree for the season, you can find a list of Indiana Grown farms here and a list of Indiana Christmas Tree Growers Association farms here.
