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Michigan Tree Farmer Moves Beyond Scotch Pines

The Traverse City Record-Eagle has a feature on Jim Grant, a Leelanau County cherry and tree farmer who travels the world looking for perfect evergreen trees for northern Michigan. Gant works with almost 30 different tree varieties at his farm. The article gives an idea of what it's like to be in the Christmas tree business and looks at some of the exotic varieties Gant grows including Olympic fir and Equi-trojani from Turkey and Greece and Veitch and Nikko firs from Japan. Exotic trees typically sell for the same price as a high-end trees such as a Fraser fir.

Ten years ago, Michigan led the nation in Christmas tree production, generating around 10 million trees annually. That's dropped to between 3 and 4 million trees a year, and the state now ranks third behind Oregon and North Carolina in total tree harvest. There are around 42,000 acres in Michigan in Christmas tree production, compared to 75,000 acres a decade ago - but that's made it better for growers who stayed in the business.

Read The search for the perfect tree in the Record-Eagle

Posted/updated Dec 19, 2005
by Andrew McFarlane (Absolute Michigan)