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Christmas Wreaths: Suffering IndustrySource: L'Acadie Nouvelle, November 6, 2007
The rise of the Canadian dollar is hurting the Christmas wreath and tree industry in New Brunswick, in some cases putting some of these activities in jeopardy.
Nevertheless still struggling, the situation for Christmas tree growers is a bit better, according the Chris Dickie from INFOR. "The demand on the American market has increased, especially due to the natural tree promotion campaigns showing the ecological advantages."
Summary of an article that appeared in
the Register-Guard http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/08/28/a1.xmastree.0828.p1.php?section=cityregion
August 28, 2007
As many Christmas tree growers can tell you, purchases of trees have been decreasing over the years as people have been buying artificial trees. The argument for this has been that artificial trees are better for the environment and our health, as many believe that using real trees causes deforestation. Never mind the fact that artificial trees are made of polyvinyl chloride, which produces a toxin, as well as lead dust on occasion.
The myth that real trees are bad for our environment was perpetuated in part by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing who stated in 2006 that Americans should be buying artificial trees to stop further deforestation in the United States. Not enough has been done though to inform customers that like other crops, Christmas trees are grown on farms. In light of all this, Joe Sharp, an Oregon Christmas tree grower, decided to team up with another large Oregon producer to form the Coalition of Environmentally-Conscious Tree Growers. The group has teamed up with the Oregon Department of Agriculture to begin planning the new "Tree Grower's Certification" program. The program would encourage growers to start applying healthier techniques of growing trees so they can be certified, which would then give customers more confidence that their tree purchase was the best choice for the environment. The certification would encourage growers to use less, though preferably no, herbicides and insecticides, as well as maintaining a buffer zone between streams and using rejected trees as mulch. Sharp has stated that "historically, farmers have sprayed just because that's what they did last year" and Donna Porter, a seventy-three year old grower has stated that it is possible to grow Christmas trees without any herbicides or insecticides as she has been doing for twenty-five years. Her secret is extensive mowing to keep grass and weeds down, Sharp, for his part, endorses the practices of integrated pest management (IPM) which use less insecticides so beneficial insects are not destroyed along with damaging ones. This new program could produce a large increase in Oregon's sales as they are currently the top Christmas tree producing state in the United States, producing 7 million cut trees a year. The program though may take time to become fully integrated as growers invest nearly a decade into each crop of trees. |