The Bees Fleas & Trees Business

“The World’s Most Productive Tree Farm”*

*self proclamation (does anyone really care?)

5 Acres, House, Outbuildings & 7,500 Christmas Trees

 $634,587

 FOR SALE BY OWNER

     Our business has seriously evolved over the last 33 years.  I never imagined it moving this far.  Maybe make a few dollars to help the kids in college – that was my original mindset.

     Initially we bought the house and 2.7 acres in beautiful Litchfield, Connecticut.  We put in 200 trees the first year and every year added to that total.  We plant fairly tight.  Trees are 5’ apart in a triangular spacing – this puts the rows 4.5’ apart and allows about 2000 trees/acre. 

  In 2004, we bought an adjoining 2.3 acres to bring us up to 5 acres – interesting enough the size of the lot when the house was built in the `1850’s.

 We cleared our original lot gradually for firewood and planted the open spaces.  We pretty much filled it with trees – took about 30 years.  I recommend whoever follows us to do the same.  The new piece of property (heavily wooded) will allow you to cut wood to partially heat the house and to keep growing the tree farm – with careful management you could get 30 years too.

 My goal was to keep putting more trees in the ground and then sell the farm when I hit 70 – (lots of old tree farmers in Connecticut).  Well my family wants us in Pennsylvania now (!) so the move was moved up.  In 2005 I put out 1023 transplants – my peak planting year.  Assuming 8 years to maturity, these trees will be ready around 2012.  There is a shortage of trees in-state.  At the last Connecticut Christmas Tree Growers Association board meeting, we went around the table in a kind of “state-of-the-state” assessment.  All of us are dealing with too many customers – too few trees.  I expect future prices to reflect that shortage (if I were staying here, I would be encouraging the state growers to raise prices to get a better return on our investment in time and land).  In 2007, our trees sold at an average price of about $43.  Our future prices will depend on the inventory we take in the fall.  If our inventory is flat or up, we hold prices, if down then maybe an increase is in order.  I would expect in the near future we would be heading toward (past?) $50.  Anyone buying the farm would be justified in raising prices – there is an investment to pay off. 

This is an attempt to show the income the future farmer can expect.  I can produce a more complete income/expense picture for serious buyers.  There is additional income available in the Christmas shop.  My wife, Carole, is very busy making and selling wreaths and other evergreen products.  We do a good business in half-price trees (previously called table top trees – we sold more when we renamed them).  We brought down a load of trees from my dad’s in upstate NY.  These are also available to the next farmer.  There is a real opportunity to bring in and sell cut trees - our trees seem to be getting smaller each year.  I have always been more interested in farming than retail so never pursued this angle.     

          An interesting observation on how much time a tree farm takes.  I retired from my day job in 1995 (at 53 – thanks to the farm income) to become a full time tree farmer.  But before that, I put in a 40 hour week, managed this place and cleared off 5 acres at my dad’s place and had at one time 7,500 trees there.  Christmas tree farming does not have to be “all consuming”.  You can do other things (like be an engineer in a chemical plant) and raise trees or raise trees and do other things (like walking the Appalachian Trail).

                                                                    John, the tree farmer