The holidays are around the corner, and if you still haven’t gotten a tree for Christmas, getting one in BC might not be easy unless it’s plastic, as BC faces another potential Christmas tree shortage.
Last year, BC faced somewhat of a Christmas Tree shortage and there was an easy culprit to blame, historically hot weather that caused damage to the crop of trees.
The effects of last year’s extreme weather are still being felt, but that isn’t the primary reason for the shortage.
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The flip side of a potential shortage brings us back to a reality we saw last year, higher prices.
Looking at the basic principles of supply and demand, the available trees will likely see significant price hikes, which for many British Columbians, will add to their pre-existing financial woes.
Supply has gotten so limited in some cases that BC has been forced to import trees from across the border in Washington State.
Just one more example of why this Province is slowing sinking into the Pacific Ocean: BC has to import (Christmas) trees from Washington, Oregon, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
— Jeremy Baker (@Jeremy_Baker) November 18, 2022
We spoke to Larry Whitehead, a director at the BC Christmas Tree Association and grower and operator of Red Truck Trees in South Surrey.
One of the main reasons he points to a potential shortage is not due to the weather at all but to growers retiring and selling their land.
Whitehead says the land is “often utilized for other purposes.”
“Farmland has become very expensive for younger farmers entering the industry.”
Factors like the heat dome, the floods caused by atmospheric rivers, and other weather conditions have “also exacerbated the shortage, which will be evident for several years to come.”
“We need to work with the Province to assist and encourage new growers to enter the industry. This assistance could be in the form of tax breaks, financial assistance, land leases and/or permitted growing on crown lands and right-of-ways. BC enjoys ideal growing conditions in many parts of the Province, and we just need the will to become self-sufficient in Christmas trees [and] other agricultural crops.”
Last year, we spoke to Paul Huesken, president of the Southwest BC Christmas Tree Association and owner of Woodsong Christmas Trees in Vancouver. He was hopeful that trees would recover after last year’s heat dome, but then BC essentially experienced an extended summer, with warm temperatures well into October.
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