The average greenhouse worker salary in the United States is $29,387, with salaries typically ranging between $23,000 and $36,000 yearly. The average greenhouse worker salary in Illinois is $35,126 or an equivalent hourly rate of $17. Wisconsin beats the national average by 4.1, and New Jersey furthers that trend with another $2,785 (6.3) above the $44,166. The average greenhouse worker gross salary in the United States is $33,441 or an equivalent hourly rate of $16. In addition, they earn an average bonus of $669.
Greenhouse worker salaries typically range from $23,000 to $36,000 yearly, with an average hourly rate of $14.13 per hour. Location, education, and experience impact greenhouse worker salary. Minnesota has the highest average salary in Minnesota, with an average hourly rate of $16.64 an hour. The average greenhouse worker hourly salary in Michigan is approximately $14.69, which meets the national average.
The average total pay for a greenhouse worker is $41,471 per year, with an estimated total pay of $38,379 per year. The median salary for a greenhouse technician in Wisconsin is around $37210 per year, with salaries typically starting from $24600 and going up to $58370. A Crop/Nursery/Greenhouse Farmworker or Laborer can receive salaries ranging between $25,270 – $37,990 depending on education and experience.
In Shelby County Community Services, Inc., Greenhouse Worker daily pay in Illinois is approximately $132, which meets the national average. The geographic profile for Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse includes states and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, and Greenhouse.
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Is $70000 a good salary in USA?
The average national salary is $61, 900, making $70, 000 a common salary but above the national average. SoFi Learn aims to provide valuable financial resources by covering various topics and breaking down complex concepts. The decision to consider $70, 000 a good salary depends on factors such as location, lifestyle, work type, financial goals, and household size. However, living well on this salary may be challenging in areas with high living costs or those supporting a family. SoFi Learn aims to keep users up-to-date on financial topics and trends, ensuring they can navigate their financial journey effectively.
How much are farm workers paid in USA?
The average farm worker salary in the USA is $31, 200 per year, or $15 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $26, 908 per year, while most experienced workers earn up to $43, 025 per year. A growing and top-rated Workers Compensation Claims and Program Administration company is seeking qualified drivers for a Pick Up and Delivery Driver position in Decatur, GA. The position requires extensive Workers Compensation knowledge and requires driving around, listening to radio, and delivering great products. Safety is a priority for the company, and the ideal candidate should have extensive knowledge of Workers Compensation.
Is it safe to work in a greenhouse?
Greenhouse workers often overlook the potential for allergies to plants, which can develop over time and may not appear immediately. Wearing clothing that covers the skin in hot environments can be uncomfortable, but minimizing skin contact with plants is crucial to prevent allergic reactions and the introduction of human, plant, pests, and foreign material. Identifying hazards in greenhouses involves considering risks for all parties involved, including consumers, plants, workers, and businesses.
Who is a greenhouse worker?
Horticulture/Greenhouse Workers are responsible for providing daily plant care, ensuring correct water, nutrient, and light levels for greenhouse and nursery plants. They assist with project setup, data collection, insect/disease management, and equipment maintenance. The job involves tasks such as planting, transplanting, pruning, watering, fertilizing, controlling insects and diseases, ventilating, and controlling weeds.
They also manage plant nutrient levels, maintain greenhouse rooms at the appropriate temperature, humidity, and light level, inspect plant material for disease and insect problems, record data, and notify supervisors or project leaders of irregularities. They also perform routine maintenance on greenhouse and nursery equipment, maintain irrigation systems, and set up electrical devices. The job requires a Pennsylvania Certified Applicator’s License.
Is greenhouse farming profitable in USA?
The majority of greenhouse fruit and vegetable producers report gross profit margins of 5-20, with the highest-yielding greenhouses generating up to 30-40 gross margins.
What is a good salary in the Midwest?
The median annual salary for top earners in the Midwest is $97, 000, with the mean salary being $69, 416 and the highest earner at $38, 500.
How much is $25 an hour annually?
An individual who receives a salary of $25 per hour would have an annual income of $52, 000.
How much do greenhouse managers make in the US?
The median salary is $40, 000. Those salaries below this figure are regarded as outliers, while the 75th percentile salary is $50, 000.
How much is 500 a week for a year?
An individual who earns $500 per week has an annual salary of $26, 000.
Is $300,000 a good salary in usa?
In 2024, a single person’s salary of $300, 000 is considered a “good” salary, but bad financial habits can have long-term consequences. SoFi Learn is a resource that helps navigate the financial journey by providing content on various financial topics, breaking down complex concepts, and staying updated on the latest trends. The average salary across the United States is $63, 795, according to the Social Security Administration.
An income of $300, 000 per year is more than four times that figure, making it a great salary for a single person in 2024. However, even a large amount of money can come up short if a solid budget is not in place or if a person leads an expensive lifestyle.
What are greenhouse employees called?
A farm laborer, also known as a gardener, greenhouse worker, grower, harvester, nursery worker, orchard worker, picker, or propagation worker, may have a variety of career interests, values, psychological demands, typical educational degrees, required knowledge, important abilities, and critical skills.
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My dad had the crazy idea of planting Christmas trees, 28,000 over a span of five years. He bought seedlings in bails, pealed them off and stuck them in the ground using a tractor-pulled furrowing plow spaced every six feet. My brother and I grew up pruning them by hand. I would go to sleep, close my eyes, and see nothing but trees burned on my retina. We got so good at pruning we could throw ours shears at the tallest trees and have them close at the right time to clip the tops we couldn’t reach, and catch the shears on their way down.
I knew a couple who had decided to use their few acres to start a Christmas tree farm as part of their retirement plan with him doing all the trimming and maintenance each year and it was time intensive. Then he had a heart attack which ended up doing enough damage that he could no longer work and he was also unable to maintain the farm. Instead of selling they found a company that came in to do all trimming and maintenance and that first year that some were ready for harvest (they had staggered planting so some would be ready each year). At that time they were making $15k a year without having to do anything. The company even handled the replanting. While trimming especially had been very time intensive for the husband who did everything by hand, the company that came in used cone shaped forms and power hedge trimmers to quickly shape each tree perfectly. While he had been eyeballing growth and trimming from spring to fall whenever he wasn’t working his regular job this company came in with a crew of 4 once in the spring and spent 3-4 days trimming and about the same for harvesting later. It could be very time intensive or very streamlined depending on the methods chosen for maintenance.
Christmas Trees are even more work than hay, the constant trimming is necessary, and very labor intensive. With today’s problems I am not so sure how valuable Christmas Trees will be. You might do better speculating on food crops. I think food crops are going to be far more valuable, especially in the near term.
Christmas trees are great, I originally from Oregon and have several Christmas tree farms near the house I grew up in. Don’t know why everyone’s complaining about how labor intensive they are, it isn’t like you prune the things every day. What I do know is that there is only so many trees a human can get to at the right times of the year to be pruning, go too big and you ruin any chance of complete success. Also, diversification is always the way to go. Having a Christmas tree farm and nothing else going on means you can only do well when people need Christmas trees. Just like raising fish in rice paddies, you need to find out what you can raise around those trees that won’t bother those trees. And your acreage should be divided and Christmas trees on some, some other crop on other area, be it fruit trees, carrots, or vineyard I can’t tell you, that’s for you to figure out…. And don’t forget you can’t cover your whole property with Christmas trees the first year, they have to be planted in succession so you can sell trees every year not every seven years. And if you are somewhere that has high winds, you MUST plant wind breaks or your Christmas trees won’t be straight (fast growing poplars usually make a great windbreak). I wish you all the luck and happiness….
It is so VERY important to cover the area around the new tree with a 2′ or more diameter of a material that will keep grasses and weeds down. A black stiff product that will not blow away. A 4″ dia hole with a slot to the perimeter for installation. Even cutting the bottom off those pots will help a great deal. Those trees are about 4+Years old in a protected environment. Just planted in an open field with weeds and grass they would be half that size or dead. Dip the root ball in water before planting. Use a 1″x2″ to pack dirt tight around root ball. The Pond would be helpful for watering….. You need a wider service route between every 2 rows if not too late. Stagger trees in rows for full Sun.
I can tell you for sure as a retail nursery manager for the last 34 years, Christmas trees are in very short supply nationwide and the most in demand tree is Fraser Fir. I tried to order 800 last year and received only about 500 due to proration. Not any easy or quick crop to grow however. The importance of the right climate cannot be overstated. Make sure your area and irrigation can do it and that you have the right tree varieties. Trimming is huge and very laborious and fungus or pests can wipe you out totally in one season. Not easy or cheap at all and a good way to loose everything. If it was easy, cheap and idiot proof everyone would do it.
I suspect, the firs will have a hard time growing over the first years. Grassland soil is dominated by bacteria, while forest soil is dominated by fungi. And you don’t have much humus (soil biology) in this clay anyway. The trees likely don’t have their mykorrhiza species present currently. The fungi need to grow together with the roots and convert the grassland soil into a forest soil. The grass acts as a competitor against the trees, when it grows close to the tree stems and their roots. So, maintaining tree pits might be a good idea (about the size of the branches). And when you plant new trees, I would add some forest soil to each tree. That probably will let them root much better and help them survive. That’s just some knowledge from gardening. I haven’t planted that many trees at once. So, tree pits might not be practicable, but adding soil biology from a forest (some humus from there) during planting should not be too difficult.
I started working on a Christmas tree farm when I was seven. The farmer would order several thousand bare root seedling slips (much younger than your potted ones). He and my older brother would run the long spade shovels. They would put the shovel in the ground a work it back and forth to open a slot. I would work the seeding into the into the hole and hold at the right height while they “heeled” it in closing the slot. Then three steps forward, rinse and repeat. I had to carry the 5 gallon bucket full of mud and slips, feeding both rows! I husled for sure, I don’t think I stood upright till lunch. He grew mostly scotch pine and blue spruce. He also had a field of Red pine. One field had several rows of firs, but they never did well. The scotch and blue spruce were the big sellers. The scotch pine was the lion’s share and was on average of about a 7 year cycle. After planting season, we would trim brush from next year’s field and use them for marker stakes for the seedlings so they wouldn’t get lost in the grass and get mowed. Then came trimming which was after the first cut of hay. We used pruning shears (upside down) to prune the candles and shape the tree for optimal growth. Some places used machetes, but not only being dangerous, it wasn’t as precise at encouraging growth in areas like filling holes or gaps to make a presentable tree. Really important because everyone wants the perfect tree with nice layers. As we got older we got conscripted into mowing season as well using old gravely mowers.
you have a couple years to figure it out. There are three means to trim the trees. A long knife that you swing in an arc to shape the tree. A Battery or electric hedge trimmer or a Gasoline powered hedge trimmer similar to a chain saw. The bare knife is a sure way to have a shoulder injury after several years or shorter depending on the condition of the shoulder to begin with . If you find a buyer you can also sell whole rooted tree specimens. In the city they sell for as much as 50 bucks a foot (a 5 foot tree for 250) but you need a mechanized tree spade to transplant them . Tress that people want in their yards are conifer Firs and Blue Spruce. Conifer Firs are light blue and have soft needles you can pet.
I wish you guys the very best. I’ve raised Christmas trees and put up hay both for years. Trees are a LOT of work. I had several acres of Fraser Firs that I planted as bare root seedlings. You have to fertilize, mow, shear, sometimes water, spray for insects – aphids love Fraser’s, deal with deer, disease, etc… It seems to never stop. Then, like in your article with your new growth buds popping, you have a late frost and BANG – your new growth for the year is gone and your suddenly a year behind. Before the buds mature and get hard they are susceptible to frost. Then, in our area, everyone raises Fraser Firs and the market gets flooded thus bringing down the value. It can be done and by having the trees close to your home you’ll likely do well because you can “work” the trees when convenient but just know they are a LOT of work. I would agree with the comment below – trees are more work than hay. Good luck.
My family has been raising Christmas trees for 23 years now I’m going to start the process of taking that part of the farm over. We always do bare root seedlings usually cheaper and grow just as fast. Living in Nebraska some years the new plantings do well other years not so much do to dry weather, regardless don’t give up!
I remember when my dad decided to plant 500 Christmas trees. He bought them from the state forestry service, and they were bare root and only about a foot tall from the bottom of the roots to the top of the tree! We put a small ridge/dam around the trees (about 3 ft in diameter). I was given the honor of dragging a hose to each tree everyday spring, summer and fall for a couple years. Dad never sold many trees; they quickly became more like pets. When he did cut one, it was always above the bottom branches. Then those branches would turn up to become new trees. He would pick the trim off all but the best shoot it would grow into a new tree. The trees grew really well and are still growing even after almost 60 years. Almost forgot to warn you about rabbits eating the tender little trees in the winter when it snows. It’s about the easiest food for them to find.
As a young man I was a backpacker and got a ride from a man in Maryland who turned out to the local expert on the Abonibal Snowman and a Christmas tree farmer! As a guest I tried to be polite about the idea of farming Christmas tree but he was a scientist at heart and talked about annualized returns and witness statements. An interesting evening seeing as 30 years later I still remember it.
I am not a farmer, just a homeowner who has tried to grow various evergreen trees in my backyard. I tried Frasier firs a couple of times and different sizes – had the least success with that (zero survived). I tried Douglas fir – I have one survivor out of four planted, and that one isn’t in the greatest shape. I tried Colorado blue spruce – only had two, and one just died. A tip with evergreens – early in spring they should show fresh growth at the branch tips; when there is no fresh growth that is a tree you will be declaring dead. I have had 100% success with Serbian spruce. I have a single Nordman fir that is doing great. And Canaan firs are 100% doing great at my place. When I saw you were getting those I thought you made a good choice – they have a very similar look to the Frasier fir (except no silvery underside to the needles), but growing them has been less troublesome. And since I am not growing to sell, I don’t try to trim them for that perfect shape – yet they seem to have kept that nice shape as they’ve grown over the years. Good luck on this endeavor.
With our first about the same size, we dumped a 5 gal.bucket of horse manure and had a backhoe stir the manure in with the soil digging and stirring together 2’x2′ by 2′ deep. Those trees absolutely took off!!! YOU could plant and sell garden crops between the rows. Use a rear tire tiller to pulverize the clumps before planting your garden. A Very High Demand for home grown organic. All the Best!!!
The single most profitable farm in all of the US is in Berkeley, Ca in town. Its really small, like a small backyard. Everything is grown in a greenhouse. What they grow is multiple exotic greens & herbs used by top high end restaurants. The USDA calculates the acreage a farm has in production times its revenue & this farm comes out on top. !
You set up a Christmas atmosphere with lots of offerings, a great display of lights that local businesses can sponsor, and develop the space for multi use as a pumpkin patch and all those offerings of activities and hospitality, then follow up with a haunted farm maze, and you’ll make a great living.
I’m curious as to what you expect your total time budget will be for bringing these trees to market. As far as I understand, you planted 1,100 trees on an acre and expect a gross revenue of $60,000 over a crop cycle of 7 years, so first there will be a margin of crop failure of say 20%, that leaves 880 trees to sell for something like $68-70 a piece if they reach six feet or so by year 7? And, then say you have $5 in each tree initially, which then leaves you with a budget of $65 for labor per tree if you don’t invest anything in irrigation or fertilizer. $65 might cover an hours worth of labor, so then the time purchasing, loading, hauling, distributing into the field, planting, six annual trimmings, digging (or probably cutting), loading and hauling again?, netting?, marketing, customer interaction (selling and settling the transaction, post accounting), and potentially loading for the customer all need to happen within a 60 min total time frame per tree to make a minimum profitable return. There’s also the consideration of whether or not you can still mow and bale hay from between the trees, since you will still need to maintain the grass one way or another and if the maintenance can’t produce a salable good then it becomes an additional cost. You could consider rooting cuttings taken from the trimmings for use and sale, also the tender new growth of most (all maybe?) fir trees is edible and often delicious and could be marketed to some restaurants.
We get tree seedlings from the dnr. We have a sled towed behind the tractor with a plow similar to your slicer. And there is a packer wheel and 2 seats for the planters (people) who place seedlings in the auger slot and the packer wheels close the trench around the seedlings. We call it a tree planter. Your trees look to be about a year old. So you’ll have less loss.
My brother daughter and her husband Levi Have a Christmas tree farm east of Dorr mi. they have a lodge That they sell wreaths and apple butter products. every year they sell out of all there trees. They just bought a new farm just north of allegan mi because of the high demand. they have been doing it for just 3 year’s GREAT PLAN wish you the best God bless your beautiful family ❤❤❤❤
Nice to see some family coming to help! You may want to look around this Fall and see if anyone is offering wreath making classes. Wreaths are an easy way to add extra income during the Christmas season. You also may want to consider starting to sell fresh, already cut trees on you farm at some point. This will help you start to build a customer base so when your trees are ready you already have customers 🙂
I had a neighbor that tried raising Christmas trees and on the second or third year he had major health issues that kept him from pruning. The trees were all deformed with bald areas once they were ready to harvest. Being a smaller community, we all had less than perfect Christmas trees for a few years to help him out. After that he had a very thick windbreak south of his house. He used to joke that he wished he’d have planted the fields to the north and west of his house instead. Before he tried it I had no idea just how labor intensive growing Christmas trees was. There’s a lot to it and if something goes wrong it can be devastating.
This is something that one would do with extra land after you had the rest of your your property already giving you an income while you wait and work for 10 years, one decade, before you start to harvest. If you were shipping these trees you also need to invest in a netting system for shipping them. As back breaking as the planting is You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! Also you never fill in the watering hole. If anything you want to increase its size they’re by increasing its capacity. There will be times when you just don’t have enough rain or naturally occurring water, so a pond filled with water would be a necessary resource.
I worked on a Christmas tree farm and we would chop about half of the roots off after counting in 5’s, 10’s bundles depending on the size of the trees, we would put anywhere from 100 – 200 trees for out field per bag to 200 – 500 for transplant back into the nursery. Sometimes it seems like you chop off too much but the trees recover quickly. To speed up your process, get a machete, 18″ or so and a chopping block, get a handful that fits in one hand, lay the roots across the block and chop, keep count!
I hope you have a better result than my family did. We planted thousands of trees over probably 10-15 acres. In the end keeping up with the constant mowing and shearing was too much. Luckily the land ended up being a much better investment in the long run. The trees are still there, can see a giant grove of evergreens from the highway whenever I go home for a visit.
I have about 4 christmas tree farms around me. They plant in stages yearly then add fillers as they harvest. A new plot they will plant a full field. Then they harvest some of the smaller ones for mini trees and let the rest grow. As they harvest they plant new ones after removing the stump. One is a small farm about your size, the others have multiple stands all around the state and in a few states to minimize transport losses. Plan ahead and get a tree wrapper and if you are doing a stand on the property a flocking set-up can be handy.
Good to see you guys doing what you need to do to survive economically. It took guts to make this turn. Someone I knew had a son, a doctor. The doc decided to plant 80 ac of Christmas Trees. Kinda iffy in SW OK. The trees were beautiful. Well the Dr, of course, wasn’t going to get dirty. Their biggest challenge was finding LABOR when the time came to harvest the trees. This is gonna be interesting!🙄😎 Bareroot trees, many times, do better than the potted ones. I have reservations about pruning the roots, though. I might’ve rented a skidsteer with tracks and an auger on the front. It would’ve handled the mud…..maybe? And all the roots could’ve gone in the hole. Your trees may be set back some, but they’ll recover Best of luck, you two!
I could never do such a venture. I grow and harvest and sell hay also. They fields I do I think of all the hard work people before me did to clear the land. No it was not done with dozers and excavators but hard labor. Tree and rock removal a lot of hand digging some horse pulling later tractor pulling but to say the least they worked hard to clear the land, I could never plant it back into trees. But that’s just me. Wish you the best of luck.
Approximately 30 years ago my wife and I purchased a Christmas tree farm full of the number one selling Christmas tree scotch pine trees. We did it for probably seven years. There are a lot of work that goes into Scotch Pinetrees don’t know about the furs that you plan it. But you have to go around every tree and trim them annually and when you do this it is the hottest time of the year. We only showed a profit one out of the seven years. Very little profit The problem lies here competition Walmart our farm is probably about 15 to 20 miles away from Walmarts. Cheap trees. I hope for you folks the best I hope you come close to that profit figure. Our farm is located in Southern Illinois still living there today I forgot to tell you you also had to walk around each tree and spray it with a die if you really wanted them to look nice.
Learning is always good, no matter the outcome. Your fields look great,,, therefore you probably already know these comments… but they may help one of your readers. To minimize risk, I suggest spacing the tree rows 16 to 30 ft apart to allow for a secondary crop between rows. Also I suggest aligning the rows with the sun’s travel in order to provide max sun to the secondary crop. Grazing could be allowed with the trees protected by electric fencing. A used water wagon, for pond water, fertilizer and Ph, would be a good investment. Very important to keep track and correct the soil’s Ph to get that 18″ of growth. I wish you success.
I don’t suppose there is much need to drive out there but if ever there is a need or want to,what is the biggest machine you can drive down a row or even maneuver throughout? A garden tractor with trailer? A side-by-side? A quad? Whatever fits now might not work so good when they branch more. Basically just curious if you have given thought to that as it might be handy to get whatever you need and modify it to specific tasks ahead of time. One example might be a small rig and trailer to take older tree shoppers out to let them choose their tree without having to walk. Another might be applying fertilizer and pruning.
Susan, Morgan here in alaska. I live on a place my brother owned .. a rental now but their concern is not renters but privacy. They call the place High tide farms and raise pot in a large building about three times the size of your barn just guessing. I turns about three to five million dollars a year in revenue. They have been in business for about four years and can’t spend the money fast enough. Every three months a room comes down and is manicured to get ready for sale.. sold out in days an some times in hours. Its big business and takes so little to get started compared to what you have laid out so far. It would take you a little research to learn the ropes but its almost idiot proof as the folks out there, ones you would never suspect smoke pot. Who knows maybe you have tried it but wouldn’t say it as it still holds a stigma. Medical grade pot can give you the most bang for dollar, takes the same amount of time but the rewards are higher.. a touch harder to do as its a more intense job. You kids would be a millionaire in a short hurry just using the barn for your business… just saying
My family grows these tress for half a century now. I grew up in these trees! Here in the south of Netherlands, quite a lot of farmers plant “christmas trees” as a sidecrop. Because in the south you have places with sandy, slightly acidic infertile soil that dries out fast. Not suitable for vegetables but ideal for pines. Cultivars used overhere are Picea abies, Picea omorika, Abies nordmanniana, Abies alba, Picea pungens, Abies fraseri. Even Pseudotsuga menziesii is planted. In short everything that ‘looks’ like a christmas tree 😉 But especially Picea omorika seems to be the best for our climate and soil. In 6 years it is ready to be sold. You did absolutely the right thing by buying potted trees!! Initially a higher cost but you have almost no dead trees due to all kinds of rooting problems. Harvesting is also more easy because roots branch out in all directions which they absolutely don’t if you buy young bare rooted pines. Plant different cultivars and look which does best in your soil. Once you made a selection start to make your own cuttings! They root quite easily, use some rooting hormone. I planted at least a million of these in my life 🙂 Good luck! The way we do it: sorry only Dutch: youtube.com/watch?v=kb3ZrV_I9E4 / youtube.com/watch?v=SiEyoxnIa50
You could grow these more effectively per the space with a diamond planting pattern, as opposed to square. I can prove this very simply, with pennies (or any same-sized coin): place 25 on a table in a square pattern, as closely as you can to one another, then try them offset, in the diamond pattern, as closely as you can to one another. This is more efficient, as you’re growing trees to take up a round space, as opposed to a square one, and this allows for more even spacing per tree, overall.
I live in the Arizona mountains at about 6000 feet. I’ve considered planting a number of hardwood trees on other landowners properties, with the hope of harvesting 30-40 years later. Trees such as mahogany, sycamore, ash, black walnut, and even apple, cherry, and pecan can yield a significant sum for their wood, and for some, it can be considered a retirement investment. When you think about the risks in investing in IRA, 401K, stocks, etc., I would bet on mother nature.
Farming Christmas trees is a lot more work than you might think. You will probably lose 5-10% of your trees in the first two years. Just replant. Once the trees get about 3-4′ high, you have to start trimming them. Twin swords (long blades) are used for trimming as they make a clean cut. I’ve seen hedge trimmers used, but they don’t do as good a job IMHO. You’ll need to trim the trees for their best shape every year. You’ll also want to keep track of the soil. You may need to adjust the PH as well as fertilize. As Gord Baker stated, you MUST keep a 2-3′ radius weed free around each tree. Either by using heavy mulch or landscaping material set down in rows on either side of the trees. You’ll need to mow down the rows both ways to keep the grass and weeds down all summer long. I wish you the best of luck. After planting the trees, the hard work doesn’t stop… In the summer, deer and rabbits can do a lot of damage. You may need to put up an electric fence around your trees. Also, be on the look out for tree blight and treat it promptly. Depending on your area, you may need to treat all of your trees in the spring and fall. If you have a dry summer, you may have to put in an irrigation system (could be just furrows to pump water down) to keep the trees alive. I worked two summers and two fall seasons at a Christmas tree farm growing up (many many years ago). It was a LOT of work and big investment for a relatively low profit margin. If tree prices fall too low, you can hold them over for a year, but not much more.
Hope your field is fenced in. In the winter the deer will be after them like flies on potato salad. Even if its not their preferred food they taste everything and that can really damage or kill small trees. The kicker is even if they don’t like the taste the bucks rub them and knock the branches off which make the trees unsalable. Been there..
I’m praying that in 5 to 7 years I’ll no longer me stuck in this bed and I’ll be out cruising across this GREAT nation of ours’s once again, like I use to do. Then I’ll be able to ride by your Tree Farm and see it’s beauty in person as I cruse by. So I’ll be praying that the trees grow as big and beautiful as expected…Y’all did a fine job at doing your part now the rest is mostly up to nature to do what it it dose best with a wee bit of help from you…. Mush love and prayer, be blessed in Jesus name… BBE..
Tips for Healthy Root Systems and the Beauty of Fraser Fir For many of us, the Christmas tree is the centerpiece of holiday celebrations, bringing warmth, joy, and tradition into our homes. As someone who has dedicated much of my life to cultivating these festive symbols, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of a healthy root system in producing magnificent Christmas trees. One of the best methods I’ve found for growing Christmas trees, especially when using pots, is to prioritize the development of a robust root system. Just like the foundation of a house, a strong root system is essential for the overall health and longevity of the tree. The more roots a tree has, the better it can absorb water and nutrients from the soil, leading to healthier growth and a more vibrant appearance. When cultivating Christmas trees in pots, it’s crucial to give the roots ample space to spread and grow. This encourages the development of a dense and healthy root system, which ultimately translates to a more resilient and thriving tree. By providing enough room for the roots to expand, you’re setting the stage for optimal growth and vitality. Among the many varieties of Christmas trees, one that stands out for its beauty and resilience is the Fraser fir. With its striking silver bark and deep green needles, the Fraser fir is a favorite choice for both growers and consumers alike. Not only does it boast an attractive appearance, but it also retains its needles well and has a pleasant aroma, making it a popular option for holiday decorations.
I have 13 acres of trees planted in rotations here in WI, we cut about 620 every year and sell them at a good friend of mines business parking lot. Facebook advertising has been just perfect for doing that. Not every tree is a seller so my family makes wreathes as well. We sell a wreath I would say about every other tree. I sell trees for 60-85 per, wreathes are 50 (but they are large and very nice) I rotate through 3 acres every year. We water and fertilize as necessary so they grow like crazy. We did 53k this year which is better than last year and the year before. I was out of trees for the first time on Saturday morning. My big difference is we buy them at 18-24″ Yea its an extra two bucks, but its also one less year. Also we use a 12″ auger, the soil disturbance helps aerate and allow growth. Only do that if your watering trees, if you dont then disturbing less soil is better, though they take an extra year (5 or 6 versus 4 to 5).
EXTRA INCOME IDEA (similar to what they do at pumpkin patches, corn patches etc) * When the trees are strong enough and tall enough, you make a “Christmas Lighting Display” on the “outside” edges of the tree farm (so you’re NOT driving in-between the tree rows and compacting the soil). * Put lights on the trees and make your own displays with lights on metal displays and/or on plywood or ????? * Then you advertise to give rides on your hay-trailer around the outside!!! * AND you sell hot chocolate, coffee, snacks etc while people visit. CHA-CHING…. EXTRA PROFITS FOR YOU!!! : ) Amen Retired, Veteran
Compost, manure wood chips ect feeds the soil life in return they feed the trees no need to put it in the hole some trees actually hate it. Poor potting soil is what kills most trees and plants from nursery’s and big box stores then people buy the crap sold in bags toss there native soil to the side and plant into it setting things up for disaster, great to see you all planting directly into your native soil and the fam all getting involved. Wish you all the luck and look forward to future articles cheers !!
The proper crop for the climate and soil works the best for sustained production. Peaches, sweet potatoes, peanuts and cattle are good for around 150 miles around Chattanooga. South of Atlanta, GA substitute Pecans on farmed out soil. But around Grayling Michigan? Cherry and Apple orchards, soy beans, corn and cattle. Further North Trees. But the problem with trees is you take nutrients out and have to put it back into the soil.
trimming those trees takes all kinds of labor in trimming and shaping through the years they grow. been there, done that, got one of those tee shirts. the highest profit crop per acre with least amount of labor and are very simple to grow in organic manner, for small farm, is in chestnuts. just have to be prepared for 8 to 12 years till they produce enough to realize the nut production that will make them worthwhile. like you stated a multi generational crop.
My experience wasn’t very profitable, we planted 1000 seedlings and it took a weekend to do with 4 guys working at it . Unfortunately the winter had alot of snow on the ground and the deer ate all the seedlings and not one survived. Our place was an 80 acre trac in Northern Missouri. We planted for cover for the wildlife and thought long term for the trees . In Missouri we can get trees from a conservation forestry department and the prices were reasonable. We planted spruce and white pine, and other varieties of pine .
friends x boss is running the farm he grew up on,no more cows,averages around 20 thousand square bales a year,he took an eight acre section and planted blueberries,pond on property to irrigate bushes,he realized he needed a way to pollenate the bushes,started out with a few bee hives and is now up to 18 hives which they harvest the honey and sell as well as his regular work week of being a logger and selling green and seasoned split firewood
Yep, I worked on my great-aunt’s tree farm near Fenwick, not that far from you, 30 years ago. Hard work, didn’t come back the following summer (worked 12 hours a day in a professional kitchen instead, and it was easier work). She didn’t make that much money fron it, but prices were different back then. Now that I’m in California prices are up to $400 for the nicer taller trees. Good luck with it, and keep in mind Sand Lake does have a weed shop now (stopped there last time I visited the folks).
We buy the rooted seedlings for $170 per 1000, both Doug fir and blue spruce. When I started it was $30 per 1000 they ship in a box that’s not all that big. Have to spray for tip beetles. Cause we raise them for Christmas trees. We use a single bottom plow. Be sure to water the. In good. And water them once a week for the first couple months. Unless you get good rain.
I’m always horrified to see the degredation of soil health at every Christmas tree farm I’ve ever visited. The agrochemicals involved destroy the biodiversity of the soil and leave the land sterile and subject to heavy soil erosion when rain and wind comes. Please be mindful of the products and practices you use if you intent to farm like this. Ultimately the productivity of your land is based on the health of your soil if you want a truely long term profitable system
I don’t know where you are, but my family raised christmas trees in NW Oregon for decades. They stopped because it was hard to get people to come help. They take quite a bit of care while growing to trim shape them and harvest is not only hard work, but usually done when it is cold and raining. Again, where you are may affect harvest, but just go into it with your eyes open. That said, it IS a money maker.
Frazier Fir is the bomb and a beautiful two-tone tree. We had success growing them in the loamy sand of Michigan. After moving to the St. Louis area, they were virtually impossible to propagate in the nasty clay, and were attacked by root disease. I wish you the best of luck with Fraziers in the wet clay! This clay-infested region accommodates your first trailer discovery at Van’s….the Norway spruce. The St. Louis Botanical Society claims that Norway spruce is the ONLY conifer to reach full natural height in this region.
This is our story and the problem with Canaan firs for Christmas trees is: We dont typically choose this type of tree, usually a frasier fir. But one Christmas we were kinda late choosing from our usual tree farm and they didnt have the size we usually get so we had to go somewhere else. We found a place that had several 5, 6, 7+ foot trees and one of them was a Canaan fir which we had never heard of. The person working there said they were great trees and would last just as long as any other so we purchased and brought home. Let me first say that the trees we usually get have lasted anywhere from 4-5 weeks because we are extremely diligent in making sure the tree is prepped properly when bringing it home and when its placed it is watered right away and checked everyday. Now to get back to this particular tree; we did everything we normally would, watered, placed, decorated ETC. Well….. after only ONE week the needles on this tree were falling so much that you couldnt even see the floor beneath it. We couldnt believe how quickly this trees needles were falling off. We were not only shocked but upset that here it was a few days before Christmas and the tree looked so bare you could see on the other side. We ended up having to remove ALL ornaments, took a trip to the local hardware store and picked up whatever they had left to at least have something that was a resemblance of a tree. Sooo for those who are thinking of getting one of these Canaan first to use as a Christmas tree, please AVOID unless you dont mind spending A LOT of $$ for something that will NOT last.
I visited my grandparents in the 60s. They raised Christmas trees. I was just a wee laddie and don’t remember much, other than walking through the trees listening to me Da and Uncles talking about all of the work trimming and shaping the trees. I don’t remember how often they had to be trimmed, but apparently, it was a lot. Perhaps with modern genetics and many more species options, you won’t have to “tame and train” yours..??? But! — People buy “Good Looking Trees”. Soooo… It -might- must be worth the effort since they tend to be fuller on the Southern/Sunny side, and “everybody” did it. My father bought, and we planted a couple of thousand “Christmas trees” on 4 acres = 8475 Bridge Lake Rd. Clarkston, Michigan. Google Maps, if you want to see what they look like, now. We moved, and the new owners just left them to grow… 60 years or so, old. Best wishes! I hope it all goes to plan.
As a second generation nurseryman, I feel bad for all of the mistakes that are made here. I don’t know where this is being filmed, but if it is very far south, fir trees wont live in the summer heat. Also, Bare root liners are a lot cheaper and do better if you get them from a reliable source. Three people should be able to line out 500 in a day with a shovel in good soil. If you want a cash crop, grow Green Giant or Spring Grove Arborvitae. They are the current hot item and will be ready to dig in 3-4 years. Im getting a good chuckle though from reading the comment section of all of the bad advice people are giving.
Have hand dug/ hand planted 1000’s of shortleaf and loblolly pine over the years and know that tree planting, enmasse, is quite a chore. It looks good even though food on a site that might have fared you better, but it is certainly your own business. I planted all my trees on cut-over timberlands. Land only fit for timber.
The consumer trend out west has been moving towards artificial trees. Very few places have cut trees. Only the big box stores. I would move towards potted live trees. Cost is only marginally more and the trees are sold year round. Blue spruce is a big seller almost everywhere. DF, Austrian, Stone pine and several others are also good sellers. Sequoias do well also, as they are perfect shape without pruning. Profit margins are higher for potted live trees to.
First of all good luck with your new endeavor. You might want to sprinkle some trerra sorb around your potted trees in the bottom half of the hole in the future. I always use slow release fertilizer pellets. Manure needs nitrogen to break down, and it could also cause air pockets. I don’t don’t use any other chemical fertilizer for a couple of years. The deer eat my White Pines. They are nice and soft also. They love the new growth in the spring. I hang small bars of soap from my trees to stop them. When I hang them on short trees, the mice eat the soap. You are probably going to have to put a water tank on a wagon to keep them healthy during dry weather for the first couple of years. When planting on a large scale with bare roots, tree plows that you ride and set the tree in the plow furrow are much faster. You still need to go back and fix mistakes. You guys did a great job. It reminds me of our family planning apple trees.
We did our research on planting Christmas trees on our farm. Christmas tree market is dropping yearly. Consumers are moving more towards artificial trees. They are looking more realistic and are less hassle. Plus the price of real ones are skyrocketing. You will always have some that love the look and smell of a real one, but those numbers are constantly dwindling. Good luck on your new venture.
I live next door to a 10 acre Christmas tree farm. They took over 7 years to get them to a size marketable, and there is a lot of activity every Dec, which is kewl to listen to. But, the trees are not what I would describe as all perfect. All in all, I cannot see how this can be a $60k venture when you count the years to get them to size, the work and money it took to develop the acreage for drive in customers, the machines, trucks and all to get them to market, etc… Cannot complain living next to a Tree farm though.
Two things you either have Clay underneath and holds the water and you have a spring keeps on popping up fill it in with rocks but maple trees in his weight you won’t have a problem very long lots of fertilizer lots of water guess what you got maple syrup or a wild persimmon tree lots of rocks don’t worry about it they’ll have enough persimmon supply the whole community persimmon jelly
I grew up with a hobby farm raising Christmas trees in MN. I wish you the best of luck. It is a lot of work for little payback unless you go big. We were very small only planting 6k-8k trees a year and harvesting about 2k. I can’t imagine planting the way you do. we used a tree planter with bare root trees. I also would not cut the roots, nothing wrong with the roots running horizontal as they will spread out and be just fine. Consider buying or renting a 3 point hitch tree planter.
I would recommend you get a pair of good quality trauma shears for cutting your roots. They are sharp as hell, stay sharp and cut through almost anything. Also, you are cutting way to much root off. You want to take off about 1/3 of your rooting base or ball. It looks like you cut off 2/3 rds. I also question if you consulted your state extension office prior to choosing firs? The reason I ask is because fire and pines don’t typically do well in clay. They certainly don’t grow near as fast as they do in sand. I commend you two for your gumption, but just worry about your choice of tree.
Way I would do the Job from my experience. I would used your ripper in the fall 4 ft foot square helps with aeration. Don’t forget some baby trees will die. Plant trees in the middle of the square. Kill the grass, so in the fall spread about 1 to 2 ft of chop Oat straw on the grass I like to do it about 3 weeks before freeze up. Grass roots will be weak in the spring Live grass takes a lot moisture and nutrients out of the ground. So in spring live grass will be dead this give free rich microbes Go a little deeper with post hole auger. And mix up compost, fruit scraps, fall leafs, straw, etc about a ft . Place compost in the hole first don”t compress compost to much. We like to have tree planted 3 to 4 inches below ground. You can use free range chickens to keep the grass and weeds between the rows under control after year three, 3ft trees..Tap root has to grow before the grow point grows . If hole is dry throw a five gallon pail water in the hole the night before planting.Oh one more thing compress the bottom roots of your tree lightly before planting. So there’s my two cents worth.
I don’t know where you are located. But I hauled a 53’ Dry Van of Hay that smelled like alfalfa from Northern half of Idaho all the way to Ocala, FL and lost money the whole way. We are parked right now because The Rates for Freight are supposed to Follow Fuel costs. But they’ve gone in the opposite direction the last two months.
sounds great but where are you going to get pruners? One of my uncles tried that but soon realized he was overwhelmed, a neighbor back in the 70’s heard Okra pays about 4,000 an acre, he planted 20 acres of Okra then couldn’t find any workers to take care of it, most people don’t realize the cost and labor involved to make 60,000 per acre, the hay might actually be the better deal
Congratulations .. a Christmas Tree farm in Oregon would not work because there are hundreds of Christmas Tree Farms in the Willamette Valley. I have an idea for you on how to fertilize your Fir Tree Farm. You can run chicken layers and broilers using chicken tractors between your rows of trees. On one acre you could easily produce 830 dozen eggs and/or 50 cubic yards of compost (if you have a source of manure, besides the chicken manure). The chickens will keep your insect’s population down. During the winter you could use the same method for your layers in a hoop greenhouse. The design comes from Justin Rhodes ChickShaw 3.0. Perma Pastures Farm on YouTube has a playlist called “Chicken Tractor on Steroids 3.0”. Billie does not feed his chickens any grain. I would use his method if I was you. Billie uses a tarp and straw to catch the manure. Justin Rhodes has two articles called “ChickShaw the perfect chicken coop just got better and Perfect Mobile Chicken Coop even better~20 changes. Rhodes got his idea for the chicken coop from Geoff Lawton’s “Chicken Tractor on Steroids.” Good luck. You can also build a rabbit tractor for rabbits
I’m thinking of buying an Old Farm in Washington that has tall grass and hay. The grass has a lot of “BUGS”. I get bugs in the ears, bugs in my eyes, bugs in my mouth, and when walking around the barn I have these small flies that seem to attack me. Do you have a remedy for getting rid of so many “BUG”.?😁
You all should look into American Chestnut trees. Most chestnuts come from the Chinese chestnut trees. Those brought the blight in and wiped out heirloom American Chestnut trees. There is so much profitable about chestnut trees, from the nut to the wood. You can lay them out in a way to still grow crops in between for the early years and then switch to a more tight grown grass, not forage type, to allow for harvesting the nut. Look at the American Chestnut tree Foundation. Soon the hybrid American will be back in production. Just the history of the tree warrants bring them back.
Great article… You really shouldn’t ever drive a tractor on mud though, it causes terrible soil compaction down below the surface… Your trees will do just fine in the native clay soil… I’m Washington, the evergreen 🎍 state, we have a mix of volcanic and glacial clay with plenty of stones in it and the pines and firs all do great! …with that many, you should shape them with a hedge trimmer or electric pole saw, not by hand. You can get really good at it and do a good job quickly with those tools after a few trees.
this just popped in my utube feed………. If you’re in SC A christmas tree farm is not a good gamble at all trees have to have alot of rain and cooler summer temps that you find at higher elevations — also if you aren’t around 3000 ft or up in elevation, you will lose a lot of trees if not all of them at some point during the 8 to 10 years it will take for them to reach 6 to 8 feet Even if you are in the upstate it gets to hot in the summer nowadays. Christmas trees are a lot of work, a lot more than people realize if you want upwards of a 70 to 80% harvest at the end of the growth span……….. and then there are pests so good luck with that —-also unless you have a spring or stream on your place filling in a pond is not a great idea
Yeah, this is a great idea! We are buying some farm land property in Florida. well, of course we cannot grow Frasier furs there but I know what to grow! This girl I knew her mom paid top dollar for a cypress Christmas tree. It was like three times the amount of a Fraser fir. Well, guess where those cypress Christmas trees come from Florida lol. Then I also just told my husband if something happens with the economy and nobody buys the cypress trees. Well guess what they’re great for building things on the water. We eventually will need to build a dock, so we will just smell our own cypress trees and build a dock because it seems like that is one of the best things they are used for. And boatbuilding I guess decking also
Nice article. FYI you can break big low branches and wrap them (look it up on Youtube.) Then grow roots to those big branches and plant them. The trees that come from the are identical clones and grow as if it is the same age as the tree it was cloned from. Way faster grow cycles and way better profit. If you pick out only the best most beautiful trees to clone you can make a shit ton of clones from that tree and then from its cloned trees as well and even sell them to others who want to be tree farmers? For 3 hots and a cot, and a percentage I am available to grow and work the farm with you and have great credit.
This looked painfully slow. If using potted plants just stomp with your foot. They are quite robust plants. If doing a large quantity I would go with bareroot trees using a planting plow…much faster. Also the price would be much cheaper. It would just take an extra year or two to mature. I would be surprised if that waterhole will grow much of anything once filled in let alone Christmas trees. It will continue to be very wet below the surface even after filled in. It would be best to put in drainage tile first.
A neighboring family, farming 400 acres of bottom land for 100 years, was always trying new ways to make money, aside from their cow/calf operation. They tried hothouse tomatoes, apples, watermelons, and back in the 70s, 20 acres of christmas trees. Back then you would see christmas tree lots in every town. Not you rarely see one. Most people forgo the pleasantries of a real tree these days for the convienience and (fire) safety of artificial trees. If you keep track (as any savvy business owner does) of not only cash outlay, but also your own personal log of labor hours, you will find that your “job” nets you less than minimum wage in this endeavor.
Thanks for sharing this article Suzanne, does Carl offer direct deposit for the farm too lol, hard work does pay off, did you still have a sales reciept for that shovel and get a replacement for that one that broke? It could be a manufacture defect, how did the chili turn out? I’m sure Erik liked the chocolate 🍫🍫 did the Glade can come in handy too? Now I going to watch the Oliver66farmboy website, have good day and happy mother’s day too 👍🚜🦮 was there enough goodies for the old lady too 😂👵
Hi, I love the farm. I wish you all the best. I’m from WV, that is where the Canaan firs that you have are from. I just wanted to let you know that in Canaan Valley WV, is pronounced Cuh Nain as if it rhymed with duh-main. It not something that most would know unless you are from West Virginia. but when they are old enough to be sold you will be able to tell the folks buying them where they are from and how it is said. the funny thing is that the word Canaan is also found in the Bible but is pronounced Cain-Nun. us West Virginians like to put our own spin on things I guess.
Well this is interesting and revealing, Christmas trees was the only crop I could think of from your 7 year clue, and you’re still doing hay, I totally misunderstood that part, but that’s good, money coming in while the trees grow, definitely a fantastic idea, definitely a lot of work, as you’ve found out, I was so thrilled to see so much help there,, just wishing I knew of a better way to plant those full root trees, I thought that’s what the plow was for, that’s certainly a lot of hand work, so exciting to follow you on this new direction, plus what I read on Instagram today, that you’re building horse trails through your woods, best of luck, Suzanne, and Eric, God be with you all!
My comment is in no way a criticism of what you have done or are doing. I would be interested to know what would happen to the overall growth rate of your trees if you put a 4 inch perforated pipe at least 3 feet down under your trees. Once the pipe was in the ground, I would fill the pipe with gravel. For the trees which are already in the ground, I would do the same thing and have the pipe at least 18 inches to 2 feet away from the tree trunk. If you have the option of putting one “drain” pipe per tree, I would put the pipe on the north side of each tree. (I have done the same thing which is have mentioned to you, but I am about 6 feet down into the ground. Roots are looking for water, and the deeper the roots go the more stable the tree. Remember also that water is bringing oxygen down deeper into the soil structure.). Seeing is believing so try this out with 6 trees to start with. I have also used my tubes to get food down into the soil as well. Blessings to you and your family.