CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — The CBS 6 Problem Solvers stopped by a Chesterfield tree farm for the second year in a row to compare how supply is for customers in 2022.
Joey Chenault and his family own the Holly Berry Christmas Farm off Hull Street Road in Chesterfield County. He described this year’s tree situation as a “mixed bag.”
The good news is that supply for Christmas trees has not been an issue, unlike last year. In 2021, Chenault received in last shipment of trees the week of Thanksgiving.
However, global costs going up across the board this year has Holly Berry increasing their prices by about 3% to 4%.
The farm receives their supply of trees from a farm in Independent, Virginia — located near the North Carolina border.
Chenault said he’s really feeling the holiday spirit this year.
“Christmas always brings out the best in people, I think. I just think this year it's been really inspiring and it's really hopeful for the future,” he said.
The trees he’s selling now were grown during the last recession and farms are catching up. He expects to see prices decrease within the next couple of years once drought conditions impacting trees improve.
Virginia Christmas tree farmers grow more than 4.3 million trees and sell more than $11 million worth, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
A survey by Lending Tree for Value Penguin shows about 63% of households that put up a Christmas tree will use an artificial tree.
About 24% will chose a real tree and about 10% will choose both.
Younger generations are also more likely to put up a real tree compared to their older counterparts, according to the study.
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