How much does an Oregon Christmas tree cost around the world?
By Lizzy Acker | The Oregonian/OregonLive
If you live in Oregon, particularly in the Willamette Valley, and you've been outside ever in your life, you may have noticed the abundance of the color green.
Oregon is full of green stuff. And while whole trees don't even fall in the top 25 of Oregon's exports (heyyyy semi-conductors), we are actually the biggest producer and exporter of Christmas trees of any state in the whole country.
In 2016, Oregon will harvest an estimated 5.2 million Christmas trees. Ninety-two percent of those trees will be exported from Oregon, to other parts of the country and to other parts of the world.
More than half of Oregon's trees are Noble fir and around 32 percent are Douglas fir. Grand fir and Nordmann fir also make up about 5 percent each of the market each.
According to the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, the wholesale value of all those trees is $90 million. But how much will one of these trees cost a non-Oregonian, looking to bring some of the PNW into their home this holiday season?
Well, it all depends on where you live.
"It's a bit all over the board," Bryan Ostlund, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, said over the phone Tuesday.
Tree prices can vary, even within the same state. Christmas trees at major retailers like Home Depot are cheaper than trees at independent retailers and smaller garden shops, for example.
"California is our biggest market," Ostlund said, adding, "half our trees go to California."
In Southern California, said Ostlund, a 6- to 7-foot Noble fir -- what they call a "6/7" -- will cost you around $65 or $75 at a major retailer, he estimates.
At a place with hand-selected trees? "They can certainly be $100," he said, but "probably more in that $80 to $90 range."
Ostlund says the same price range should be expected in most parts of the lower 48, except in New York City. In New York City, because it's New York City, prices go up. A call to SoHo Trees in Manhattan, revealed that a 6/7 Grand, Noble or Nordman fir would run you about $125 to $135.
Another place where Oregon trees go for a premium? Hawaii. "Hawaii is such a unique environment," Ostlund said.
Because it's not on the mainland, trees headed to the islands require "a lot more care," mainly in the form of cleaning them, as to not transfer bugs to a different ecosystem. Also, the trees must be driven to a port and then shipped over the ocean.
At a retail lot in Hawaii, Ostlund said, a 6/7 Noble fir will cost between $100 and $125.
In Oregon, at a major retailer like Fred Meyer, a 6/7 goes for between $59 to $65.
Oregon trees are big in other countries, too.
"We ship a lot of trees to Mexico," said Ostlund, who calls the country "our largest trading partner."
But in Mexico the size of tree in demand is smaller. There, trees go for around $50 each.
In Japan, even smaller trees are what's popular.
"Companies like Ikea will use little tabletop trees," Ostlund said. Those end up retailing for around $30.
If you're in Oregon and don't want to pay lot prices, your best bet is to go out and cut your own, either on a farm or with a National Forest Christmas Tree permit.