Business Management

The Christmas tree business can be exciting and profitable, but you need to know how to manage your business successfully. Use Penn State Extension’s resources, including information on Christmas tree production, marketing, management, and the green industry.

How to Start a Christmas Tree Farm

There’s a lot more to successful Christmas tree production than planting a load of Christmas trees and waiting for them to grow.

Christmas tree production is one of many Green Industry opportunities. There’s also landscape, lawn, nursery, and greenhouse businesses.

Whichever business you choose, financing will be necessary, unless you’ve been saving for several years or are independently wealthy. As a soon-to-be Christmas tree grower, you may be eligible to participate in the Tree Assistance Program. This program provides financial assistance if you’re replanting or rehabilitating suitable trees, bushes, and vines lost by natural disasters.

As a new farmer, you’re also going to face the challenge of managing employees. Finding the right employees and keeping them is fundamental to the growth of your business.

Christmas Tree Farm Business Management

You need more than a green thumb to run a successful Christmas tree farm. A certain number of business and administration skills are also vital. Record keeping has quickly become a critical task in production agriculture.

A basic understanding of risk management and different strategies means you might consider diversification, crop rotation, and the use of a variety of insurance products. Plenty of resources are available to help you increase your knowledge, such as Penn State Extension’s three-part series of videos on the risk management planning process.

Risk management can take many forms, one of which is agricultural business insurance. Your business must be adequately covered because it shifts some of the risks to the insurance carrier.

You’ll be making financial decisions every day, so you should know how to budget. Penn State Extension’s FarmSense workshops help you learn about financial statements involved in running your business.

If you’re going to be applying pesticides, you need to understand the Pennsylvania pesticide laws and how you can comply with them. If you’re using certain pesticides, for example, you may need a Pesticide Applicator Certification.

Christmas Tree Farming Community and Resources

You’re not on your own when you become a Christmas tree farmer. There is a much wider green industry community you can approach for help and advice. Regular events such as the Green Industry Conference help you network and stay up to date on the latest research, techniques, and technology to help your business succeed.

The Christmas Tree Growers Meeting and Trade Show also brings regional experts, growers, and vendors together.