Growers aren't out of the woods yet

SMALL PRINT:CHRISTY KAVANAGH is a hard man to track down at this time of year. Even when the weather is fine and the roads are clear of ice and snow, the tree grower has to put in long hours each December loading the last of his Christmas trees on to trucks to be taken to shops and suppliers for the seasonal market.

This year, however, Kavanagh says he is well behind schedule and the push is on to ensure his customers have something to decorate in the days leading up to Christmas. “The weather has been unbelievable. We have never experienced anything like it before and it’s creating huge difficulties for us,” says Kavanagh. “I reckon we are 10 days behind schedule.”

Kavanagh is working day and night to try to get back on track. “I finished work at 1.30am today and started again at 5.30am and we’ll be working 18 hours a day for the next week,” he says. “We’ve started to bring the trees down to the main routes , because the land is too bad for trucks to access.”

Kavanagh is one of about 100 producers involved in growing Christmas trees in Ireland, generating more than €15 million annually. Close to 650,000 Christmas trees are grown here every year, with up to 400,000 of these destined for the domestic market and the rest exported to the UK and Europe.

A fully matured Christmas tree can take seven to 10 years to reach its proper height. They retail for about €10 per foot.

This year there have been concerns that the cold spell would mean trees would not be felled in time for the holidays. So many suppliers are working very long hours to make sure their trees get to market before next week when demand is strongest.

Wicklow grower Dermot Page, who is chairman of the Irish Christmas Tree Growers, says he is a week behind schedule, but believes all his trees will make it to market in time.

“The snow and ice has definitely impacted us,” he says. “Hopefully, though, in the next few days we’ll be able to get all our harvest out there – unless we have another pile of snow. We’re working around the clock to make sure it all happens now.”

Ireland is considered to have one of the most favourable climates in Europe for growing Christmas trees. Yet timing is everything and growers are wary of cutting down their trees too soon. “If you cut them down early, they can go into shock,” says Kavanagh.

“This could have the effect of making them shed their needles. The weather has no effect on them though. It wouldn’t harm the tree, but it harms business. It shouldn’t affect the price customers pay because it’s pointless talking to people about extra costs in the current climate.”

Kavanagh says it is not in the interests of growers to have stock left over or unavailable, given the seasonal nature of the business. He says many growers have taken on additional staff and machinery to ensure the trees make it to potential customers.

“It’s a lot of hassle and the additional costs are huge,” he says, “but we have to do it and get the trees out there as soon as we can. Nobody wants to buy a Christmas tree in January.”