Kelly Williams Brown points to the Beaver State:
Oregon is the biggest producer in the country, and arguably the world. In this green and gray state, there are 45 to 50 million Christmas trees in the ground at any given time, which means Christmas trees outnumber humans 12 to 1.
It’s not just that Oregon has a the right climate to grow the trees (though it does) or that a state historically reliant on logging would continue to produce trees as products. Oregon is where the modern Christmas tree industry in America was born, thanks to a Nebraskan-born farmer named Hal Schudel.
In 1955, Hal had an enormous idea: Perhaps Christmas trees, like corn, wheat or soybeans, could be a crop. They could be bred selectively, attended to and fertilized, sheared each year into the perfect cone. A tree’s nooks and crannies that perfectly showcase your ornament collection didn’t happen by accident. They were designed. Like every agricultural product, Christmas trees are now selectively bred and groomed for what the consumer wants: the perfect color; needle retention to minimize vacuuming; dense, bushy branches that can hold the heaviest ornament; and perhaps most importantly, the scent that wafts gently through a home and announces the presence of Christmas.
Hal’s insight became Holiday Tree Farms, which started as 300 acres and now reaches 8,500 acres, is one of the two largest Christmas tree operations in the world, trading off with McKenzie Farms, also in Oregon. Holiday Tree Farms is still held by Hal’s family, and this year will ship over one million Christmas trees. Today, 98% of Christmas trees come from farms like the one first envisioned by Hal.
The Dish 