Why is there a Christmas tree shortage?

Demand for real Christmas trees is on the rise, but the supply is limited this holiday season. MLive reporter Emily Bingham talks with a professor of horticulture and forestry from Michigan State University to find out why.

[frostymutt]

Same thing they always say when they want to raise the price of something.

[majinhiei]

I'm glad the trending news section is tackling the issues that matter.

[nfc]

Why buy a real tree when you can make a one time investment and have a fake tree forever?

[bpdubb]

There's plenty of people selling Christmas trees around me....

[outofgas]

Yep Christmas has been ruined by greed .

[SilverScarletSpider]

Keep demand artificially low in order to keep prices artificially high. Simple economics.

[joseesquilin]

Why not buying a fake tree instead of cutting one for less than a month 🤦🏽‍♂️ 10 years to grow for few days to use

[mycoboto]

Waste of a tree waste of money waste of time

[VictorPoulin]

This is not happening here in NH. We have many tree farmers and they are producing more and more every year.

[marks]

I never understood why someone would kill a tree to put in their house for a few weeks only to throw it out again. We always had a fake tree. Just as pretty, no mess, and environmentally friendly without the waste of a good oxygen supply for the planet. And we didn't need to waste money on a tree for 40 years!

[JoachimderZweite]

I used to go to a garden center and buy live trees about 6 ft and bring them in Christmas Ever for decorating and take them out the day after Christmas and plant them in a pre dug hole. When I left my house I had planted about 5 beautiful trees.

[stevenpeters]

Just a small reminder how much better the economy is now than what it was before

[ValleyJoe]

I see allot of comments about fake trees. Nothing like the smell of a real tree tho. Plus there farmed trees not like we're cutting down a forest they wouldn't be there in the first place if they weren't planning on cutting them down.

[rintohsaka]

They put out trees at Halloween and you expect me to believe there's a "shortage"

[king-oreos]

Having a real tree is, one a waste of a good tree, and two a fucking waste of money

[mjnyc]

Anyone who has travelled through Labrador would deny such a shortage.

[millerrepin]

THEY'RE TURNING THE FRIGGEN TREES GAY

[tedswanson]

I'll continue to celebrate festivus and reuse the same metal pole ive been using for the past several years. I dont have to water it. It doesn't shed needles. I don't have to buy a new one every year and the pole never has to be replaced every few years like an artificial.

[steve-usmcvet]

Sales hype. Every year, year after year, decade after decade, some kinda crisis about a tree shortage type of story is spread. Such BS., ....

[xxxhelllowxxx]

There isn’t a Christmas tree shortage, it’s a ploy so people buy in fear they won’t have a Christmas tree this year