Christmas tree harvests: Easy as 1, 2, tree

<!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 14
–>

Oregon’s Christmas tree growers are beginning their harvest amid good economic news from Mexico.

The country recently suspended tariffs on U.S. Christmas trees and other commodities shipped across the border.

The tariff was reduced earlier this year to 10 percent, and now there is no tariff, said Bryan Ostlund, with the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association.

“This is very good news. It’s nice to see this issue being resolved,” Ostlund said.

In 2009, Mexico imposed tariffs of as much as 20 percent on more than 90 U.S. exports, a retaliation measure after U.S. officials ended a cross-border trucking program, officials said. The dispute had arisen about a provision in the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mexico is a top destination for Oregon Christmas trees, with about 10 percent of total trees sold in 2010 going to the country, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The effect of the tariff lifting probably won’t be seen until at least next year because most growers already have made agreements with overseas buyers, Ostlund said.

“We ship 700,000 trees to Mexico at an average price of $15 per tree,” Ostlund said.

Seven-hundred fifty growers are licensed in the state, and 40 of them are active sellers to Mexico, Ostlund said.

“The potential is quite large. We hope in the future to see the numbers continue to go up,” Ostlund said.

Hollie Spivey is the sales manager at HH Christmas Trees and Transportation and is president of the Christmas tree chapter of the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

The firm, with 23 farms in Oregon and Washington, including 60 acres in Lyons, said its export market makes up about half of its total sales.

“Exports into Mexico have declined from about 16 percent in 2007 to 10 percent in 2010. We lost ground,” Spivey said. “It’s late in the season and we’ve already booked orders, so we won’t recoup anything for this year. This will help get us back to normal.”

They are forecasting shipping 200,000 to 250,000 trees overseas this year.