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In the heart of Pennsylvania’s farm country, the spirit of Christmas was vividly alive as it went under the hammer this week, attracting a flurry of eager bidders.
The annual two-day event at the Buffalo Valley Produce Auction in Mifflinburg saw around 50,000 Christmas trees find new homes. Alongside these festive firs, a vast array of wreaths, crafts, and seasonal items were auctioned off, filling a space large enough to rival an airplane hangar. This spectacle of holiday commerce drew buyers from across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, all keen to stock up for the holiday rush.
These buyers were on a mission to supply garden stores, bustling corner lots, and various retail outlets with the quintessential Fraser firs and other festive greenery. With the holiday season fast approaching, customers are eager to embrace the tradition of bringing a tree home to fill their spaces with the scent and sight of Christmas.
Despite the chilly temperatures, bundled-up bidders were keen to hear the auctioneers’ calls, offering an array of holiday essentials. From boxes of ornaments and winterberry bunches to cotton branches and icicle lights, the auction had nearly everything needed for a perfect Christmas ambiance, save for the food and presents.
Reflecting on the broader trends, Marsha Gray from the Real Christmas Tree Board in Howell, Michigan, noted a shift in American holiday traditions. She highlighted that fewer homes now feature a Christmas tree, and of those that do, an increasing number prefer artificial trees over their natural counterparts. This evolution in consumer habits poses new challenges and opportunities for the Christmas tree industry.
Cory Stephens was back for a second year at the auction after his customers raved about the holiday decor he purchased there last year for A.A. Co. Farm, Lawn & Garden, his store a three-hour drive away in Pasadena, Maryland. He spent nearly $5,000 on Thursday.
“It’s incredible, it’s changed our whole world,” Stephens said. “If you know what you’re looking for, it’s very hard to beat the quality.”
Ryan Marshall spent about $8,000 on various decorations for resale at Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, Massachusetts. Among his purchases were three skids of wreaths at $29 per wreath — and he expected to double his money.
“The quality’s good, and it’s a place that you can pick it out yourself,” he said.
Gray said her group’s research shows the main reason people pick a real tree over an artificial tree “is the scent. They want the fresh scent of a real Christmas tree in their home.” Having children in the house also tends to correlate with picking a farm-grown tree, she said.
An August survey by the Real Christmas Tree Board found that 84% of growers did not expect wholesale prices to increase this season.
Buffalo Valley auction manager Neil Courtney said farm-grown tree prices seem to have stabilized, and he sees hope that the trend toward artificial trees can be reversed.
“Long story short — we’ll be back on top of the game shortly,” Courtney said. “The live tree puts the real Christmas in your house.”
A survey by a trade group, the National Christmas Tree Association, found that more than 21 million farm-grown Christmas trees were sold in 2023, with median price of $75. About a quarter of them were purchased at a “choose-and-cut” farm, one in five from a chain store, and most of the rest from nurseries, retail lots, nonprofit sales and online.
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