Our Mission

 

Green cones of a Fraser fir (Abies fraseri)

The mission of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association (NCCTA) is to promote “real” Christmas Trees through marketing and education. We will contribute to the success of the Christmas Tree Industry by providing ethical, professional, and visionary leadership.

On this website, you will find the means to locate Christmas Tree Wholesalers, Choose & Cut Christmas Tree Farms, Christmas Tree Growers that offer Mail Order sales, and much more.

North Carolina has over more than 850 growers producing approximately 50 million trees on more than 38,000 acres. Fraser Fir trees represent 94 percent of all species grown in North Carolina and over 26% of all Christmas trees grown in the US.

The North Carolina Christmas Tree Industry is ranked second in the nation in the number of trees harvested and cash receipts. 2017 Christmas tree sales in North Carolina totaled in excess of $86 million dollars according to the 2017 USDA Agriculture Census. This calculation does not include sales of value-added products such as wreaths, roping and other greenery.

The North Carolina Fraser fir has been judged our nation’s best through a contest sponsored by the National Christmas Tree Association and has been chosen for the official White House Christmas tree fourteen times (more than any other species)…in 1971, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2021.

The North Carolina Fraser fir Christmas tree is one of the most popular Christmas trees in North America and is shipped to every state in the U.S. as well as to the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, Japan and other points all over the world.

Producing the best tree for your family that nature and nurture can provide takes much time and effort. It can take anywhere from twelve to fifteen years for a tree to be ready to harvest.

It is a difficult and time consuming process, yet Christmas tree growers agree it is worth it when their trees become the decorative centerpiece of your home during the holiday season.

 

History of the NCCTA

The first Christmas tree marketplace was created in 1851 in New York City, however, it took North Carolina until 1955 to begin growing Fraser Fir seedlings specifically for harvesting. In 1959, five Avery County growers created the NCCTA. In 1964, North Carolina was able to achieve selling one million Christmas trees with a price that averaged 1 dollar per foot. In 1971, the Fraser Fir was selected to be the official White House Christmas tree for the first time. The following year, over 400,000 Fraser Firs were harvested, and by 1979, the number had risen to 1.4 million. In both 1982 & 1984, the NC Fraser Fir was selected to be the White House Tree. Since then the Fraser Fir has been selected 10 more times to be showcased in the White House. By 1988, the NC Christmas Tree industry was valued at 55 million dollars and harvested 4.1 million trees every year. By 2006, western North Carolina Christmas tree growers had reduced pesticide use by half and continue to keep pesticide use as low as possible. The NCCTA continues to face challenges of modern production including changes in markets, issues with labor, and increasing market complexity.