Extreme summer weather hits Christmas tree crop

Christmas tree farmers believe recent extreme weather will hit the number of trees available to buyers in future years.

Saplings and young trees have been those most at risk, and farmers have reported thousands dying over the hot summer months.

As the trees going on sale this winter were typically planted at least five years ago, the effect is unlikely to be seen yet.

But farmers in the West Midlands said the loss of saplings and young trees over the last couple of years would be felt further down the line, and they were changing when they plant the trees to adapt.

Meurig Rhys-Jones, the manager of Oswestry Christmas Tree Farm at Pentreclawdd Farm said: "Everybody's very cautious of how much to plant."

He said the larger, more mature trees were able to cope with extreme weather, but the smaller ones were not.

"If you've got a young sapling that hasn't got an established root system, if it's dry it's going to die," he explained.

He predicted the effects would be seen in seven or eight years' time and there was "not a great deal we can do".

Despite this, Rhys-Jones believed his farm would cope and said demand for real trees continued to grow every year.

He said he found the work satisfying, and added that it was "lovely when you see the children skipping and dancing up and down, laughing [in December] ".

Jonathan Allan, who grows trees at Holly Farm garden centre, near Whitchurch in Shropshire, said his trees had taken "a big beating" this summer.

He said in one patch, where there was light, sandy soil which did not hold much water, he had lost 90% of his trees due to the "relentless heat".

"We're going to have a gap in production in three, four, five years' time," he said.

"In another field, where the ground is clay-based, the ground has been able to hold more water."

But Allan added that if there was another spell of especially wet weather, those trees would be under threat more than those in shallow soil.

"It's tough," he said.

Matt Adams, from Duckswich Christmas Trees near Worcester, said while numbers were not a problem this year, he was concerned about the quality of trees going on sale.

"We've had such a severe drought the trees are stressed," he said.

That could mean that once the trees are cut they are unable to hold onto their needles as well as expected.

Adams started growing Christmas trees in 2015 "as a bit of a trial" and while it had been an enjoyable experience, he would not be continuing and would not be planting any more saplings.

He said that was more to do with his age than extreme weather, but he added that other farmers were facing a difficult choice.

Asked what they could do to protect their crops, he said: "If you've got deep pockets, then irrigation."

But he said unless prices went up, anything like that would be "massive" and a big hit on profits.

Ollie Simpkins, the co-owner of Warwickshire Christmas Tree Farm near Shenington, said it had been "a tough couple of years for growing".

"We lost half of the saplings we planted last year due to the heat," he said.

This year his farm planted 7,500 trees and lost 5,500, plus another 1,500 from those planted last year.

Because of the lack of rain and the extreme heat, he said, they were pumping up to 20,000 litres of water per day on the trees which he explained was ultimately "unsustainable".

Like some other tree-growers, Simpkins has looked at switching planting from March to October, to allow the plants to grow in cooler weather.

He said the effect of the weather was unlikely to be seen in the next couple of years, but numbers could be affected in around seven years.

Russell Parkins, who chairs the British Christmas Trees Growers Association, said: "Growers are continually adapting their practices, and we're seeing more autumn planting to help young trees establish strong root systems over the winter months."

He also said Christmas tree farmers were "all aware that the world is changing" and there was "ongoing research on provenance selection".

That involves breeding from trees native to other parts of the world, including Turkey, to create plants better able to cope, he said.

Extra spending on measures such as irrigation was less likely, though, and he said it "would be a difficult one just because of the cost that's involved".

Parkins agreed effects of the hot weather this summer were likely to be seen "six to ten years down the road," but saw hope for the future.

He said the expertise and commitment of his members would mean consumers would "continue to enjoy high-quality British-grown Christmas trees for many years to come".

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