Throughout the holiday season, RFD-TV news has reported on Christmas tree supply across the country. And while there were enough of the holiday staples for consumers to purchase, the ongoing dry weather created quite a challenge for tree growers this year in Nebraska.
The state has been facing dry conditions all year long. While conditions are much better now by comparison the state was completely covered in severe- to exceptional drought compared at the start of the year.
Christmas tree producers in the eastern portion of the state are still facing some abnormal dryness and, in some cases, continuing to deal with exceptional drought.
Christmas trees take around eight years to mature from seedling to harvesting size, so each year, Prior Pines Christmas Tree Farms plants 1,200 trees. The trees need an ample amount of rain during April and May and then again in August and September. This year that didn’t happen at either time. They were able to harvest 200 trees this year to compensate for only 40 percent of the seedlings planted survived the arid growing conditions.
Tough weather is not stopping the Christmas cheer, though! Thankfully, the farm stocked up on supplies from its neighbor, Wisconsin.
You can visit Prior Pines now through December 23rd.
