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I’ve been a full-time Christmas tree farmer in Oregon since 1983 and we operate a large retail Christmas tree lot in Los Angeles, one of the two biggest media centers in America.  We have the advantage of hearing first-hand all of the messages that have come through the media about Christmas trees, good and bad.  I know for certain that our recent media efforts are working to help control and tailor our image to the public because I hear it directly from the lips of our customers, and I think it is dangerous and cavalier to leave that image to chance, or even worse, to leave it to our competitors.  Why would we even consider abandoning our best chance ever to have one voice as an industry?  For what, $.15 a tree?   On the farm just about everything we do cost more than $.15 per tree.  And the very fact that participation is compulsory is what makes the check-off program fair and is what gives it the strength to sustain the kind of ongoing effort it’s going to take in today’s world to shape our own image and have a say in our own future.

Mark Rohlfs
Santa & Sons Christmas Trees

Silver Mountain Christmas Trees has been in the Christmas tree business for fifty years this year 1968 – 2018.

We all have experienced some very good times in our industry. I’m sad to say that what lies ahead does not bode well for the real Christmas tree industry. We are losing our once great market with the Baby Boomers. The next and largest population of consumers ever are the millennials. Unfortunately over one-half of that generation are predisposed to the use of a fake tree, having had a fake tree in their childhood.

As an industry we are in a fight for our very existence down the road. If we don’t win this fight the real Christmas tree will become an icon of the past. This is a battle that can be won, but it will take dedicated funds and time. It is not a battle that can be won by two or three large growers. It is every grower’s responsibility to pay their fair share and get involved in their industry.

We at Silver Mountain are voting yes on this upcoming referendum for the continuation of our industry.

Jim Heater Family
Oregon

Dear Christmas Tree Growers,

The referendum to continue the Christmas Tree Promotion Board (aka the Checkoff) will take place in May. Some of the checkoff monies collected have been used to target millennials encouraging the use of a REAL tree. CTPB gets the message out to young consumers that real trees are an environmentally healthy option in a way that I can’t do on my own.  In addition, collected dollars are also used to fund research projects. It is getting more difficult for researchers who support the Christmas tree industry to find money for research. Everyone can get behind the need to fund projects such as basic research on the genetics of keepability.  With the check-off, our industry can guarantee dollars over a period of time.  Those dollars can be used to leverage money from other sources.

Vote “yes” for the referendum.   We will not get another chance to have a program like this.

Joncie Underwood
Maryland

Dear Tree Growing Friends,

We, as an industry have just come off of a robust sales year. We now look forward to the next planting, growing, and selling season. Sometime in the next few months, we will be asked to vote on the referendum to continue funding the Christmas Tree Promotion Board.

We have seen the progress that the promotion board has made in just two short years. This is the first time that a continuous, professional effort has been made to promote the real farm-grown Christmas tree. For 15 cents a tree, we have seen a positive message spread across social media. And we have seen the results in an improved marketplace. We must continue to support this effort to strengthen our industry.

You may have seen some negative comments about our promotional efforts. Please take these with a grain of salt. We know you can’t please all the people all the time. But we are in the Christmas tree industry, we love the Christmas tree industry and we must support the Christmas tree industry. In August the Board of Directors of the National Christmas Tree Association voted overwhelmingly to support the referendum. Therefore, please vote for the upcoming referendum, support the referendum, and spread the word about the good media that has come from the 15-cent assessment. In my personal world I could do nothing for 15 cents a tree, but together we can push the pendulum in the other direction and increase sales of the real Christmas tree.

Paul Schroeder
Wisconsin
President, NCTA

Dear Christmas Tree Growers,

Being farmers, we have seen the benefits of better farming methods, better products, and better marketing through the corn, soybean, and hog checkoff programs that we have participated in. The list of such check-off systems is long and varied – cattle, wheat, dairy, watermelon, cotton, and so on. Long ago, these farmers realized that they could best promote their product if they joined hands with other like-kind producers. Now, the Christmas tree industry has the same chance to become a stronger industry.

The Christmas Tree Promotion Board (CTPB) is asking the industry to work together to combat our declining market share lost to the fake tree.  The checkoff has been in place for three years and we need to protect that investment in our future.  We’ve got a great tagline:  “It’s Christmas, Keep It Real!”  And the promotion programs have been exciting and well-received.  Millions of people learned, or had the message reinforced, that real, farm-grown Christmas trees are “in” now even more than ever.  Grown in the USA, renewable, sustainable, 100% recyclable, best for the environment!  These features are important to millennials, but still, over half of them think a fake tree is better for the environment.  We, the tree farmers, need to tell them that real trees are best.  We tell our own customers, but we need a national program to reach millions of people… and the messages need to be on their smartphones.  This is what the checkoff has been doing and needs to continue to do.

We also need the CTPB Research Committee to continue and expand research on the genetics of keeping trees better and longer after they are cut.  Researching bugs, diseases, and genetics takes years.  Where’s that money going to come from? The check-off.  With the check-off, our industry can guarantee dollars over a long period of time to use for this research.

We have to promote the wonderful memories our industry creates, and we need a national promotion – more than can be done on our farms.

Vote YES on the referendum!

The Richardsons, Robert & Carol, George & Wendy, Ryan & Kristen – 5th and 6th generations on the farm

Richardson Christmas Trees

Spring Grove, Illinois