Christmas Tree Controversy

               According to foxnews.com the Obama administration has decided not to place a 15-cent tax on Christmas trees so critics can not accuse them of ‘taxing Christmas’ or being the Grinch.

                Instead, this 15-cent tax was going to be used to fund a new marketing campaign similar to the ‘Got Milk?’ or ‘Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner’ campaigns. With that said, Christmas tree farmers have been working on a potential check-off program for the last four years in order to create a promotional board so this debate has nothing to do with the Obama administration according to realtreetalk.blogspot.com.

                Consumers will not be paying an extra 15-cents for their trees this Christmas as the National Christmas Tree Association has created a new Christmas Tree Check-off Program according to christmastree.org. Growers have created this program to benefit the industry much like any other commodity group. Funded by the growers at a rate of 15-cents per tree sold, this will not affect the final cost consumers will pay according to christmastree.org. The promotional board will consist of twelve Christmas tree farm owners as they will be in charge of developing and approving promotional and research efforts to benefit the industry.

                Even though the Christmas tree industry is drastically smaller than some of the larger commodity groups, their messages will soon be recognizable. Currently, there are 18 other similar marketing campaigns already in effect for various agricultural commodities according to christmastree.org.

                According to realtreetalk.blogspot.com, the Christmas tree industry will pay for all costs and administration so tax dollars are not funding this program.

                Brian Frank, owner of Talbott’s Christmas Tree Farm, explained what this new promotional board means to area Christmas tree growers. He owns 50 acres of Christmas trees which include Scotch, White, and Red Pines as well as Spruces and Canaan, Concolor, and Douglas Firs in Green Valley, Illinois. He also sells fresh cut Fraser Firs.

                “This marketing campaign will improve the Christmas tree industry similar to that of the beef and pork industries due to different marketing tactics. It will promote the whole industry itself,” Frank said.

                As far as marketing strategies he uses for his own business, Frank said he primarily uses radio advertisements, but has used billboard advertisements in the past. He also said that, from his personal experiences, voluntary campaigns have not been as successful as marketing campaigns so this is a good idea for growers to embrace.

                As any other commodity group, Christmas tree growers can be found in several varying places in North America. The National Christmas Tree Association represents nearly 5,000 growers who sell their trees to nearly thirty million consumers each year according to christmastree.org.

                Don Schmidt, professor of horticulture, explained where the most popular varieties of Christmas trees is grown.

                “The Fraser Fir is a very common Christmas tree sold around here. It is grown down in North Carolina there in the mountains. Another species that is common is the Balsam fir which is grown further up in New England and into Canada,” Schmidt said.

                He added that this new marketing campaign will encourage more people to purchase real Christmas trees versus artificial trees as well as encouraging more people to grow them.

Note: This is an article I wrote for the Daily Vidette, but thought it was interesting to share with you:)