Tree Inventory Technician
To raise high quality trees for wholesale and retail.
Wholesale tree growers constantly check themselves by asking: Who are
we growing the trees for? What kind of trees will sell best in this
area? How many species should we have?
Tree planting sales are robust in winter months, when roots are
dormant, and to smooth out the seasonality, most tree growers have
different crops for all four seasons. Pleasant Valley Tree Farms &
Garden Center in West Central Wisconsin harvests bulbs and herbs for
the spring, Christmas trees and trees for the winter, gourds, pumpkins
and squash for the fall, and perennials and shrubs for summer.
As the needs of the consumer change, so does the tree grower's product
line. Thirty years ago, 90% of the population bought a real Christmas
tree for the holiday season. Since then, Christmas tree sales have
decreased by half, from 70 million trees annually to less than 35
million. That is a substantial loss for growers. It used to be that a
tree farmer could make a living purely selling Christmas trees, but not
anymore.
The market for trees is highly competitive. Selling trees is an
investment, because to sell a quality tree it takes years - sometimes
seven or eight - before you have a mature, saleable tree. Lots of
pruning, shaping and nurturing is needed, and one missed pruning or
improper watering could result in an unmarketable tree and a big
financial loss. "The market today demands a very high-quality tree",
states Mel Koelling, a Michigan State University forestry expert, " and
failure to trim in any one of those six, seven or eight years that a
tree is being produced, will render the tree unsaleable."
Tree growers usually sell in volume and by contractual agreement. For
example, you can order trees a season in advanced. That way, your order
is grown especially for you. Usually trees are bought in bundles of 100
or 500. Purchasing trees with contracts insures the grower that he or
she will not be stuck with tons of extra trees that won't sell.
There are no degrees required to become a wholesale tree grower, but it
is necessary to be knowledgeable in the crops you are producing as well
as having excellent people and business skills. Acquiring the land is
also expensive, and it can take five to ten years to yield a profit.
Tree growers are typically owners/operators and profits vary from very little to six figures.
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