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the advertising if it resulted in cus- tomers. After 6 years we were able to let the program phase out because of its success. G. Signage. In addition to road signage mentioned earlier, you need to plan for signage for parking and also signage to direct customers through your fields. H. Preventing Mistakes: How not to make the same mistakes previous farmers have made. There are several information sources for anyone want- ing to start a new farm. (1) Join Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association (VCTGA) - Meet with other Virginia farmers each year during early August for 2 or 3 days. Two days of training and infor- mation sessions. Major opportunity for new or potential farmers to social- ize with established farmers and pick their brains on any and all topics. Ex- isting farmers are very willing to aid and assist new farmers in all aspects. They will happily tell you of their mistakes and pitfalls so that you can avoid the same mistakes. Once you meet the VCTGA members you will have ready access to consultations by phone all year long. (2) Virginia Cooperative Extension Agents are located throughout Vir- ginia and also participate in the VCTGA annual meeting. The Exten- sion Agents are great sources of infor- mation on all phases of Christmas tree production from soil sampling, tree diseases, to tree pests. (3) Local Christmas Tree Farmers in your area. Go visit as many tree farms as you can in your area and ask for tours. Nearly all of the farms will be happy to show you their farms and answer any questions you have. Vol- unteer to help on the farm as a way to get on the job training. (4) MENTORING: VCTGA mem- bers make great mentors. I currently

on the roads would be extremely im- portant in the early years until the farm is well established. D. Type of trees to plant? We are fortunate in Northern Virginia to be able to grow most varieties. Common varieties are White Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce, Con- color Fir, Douglas Fir, Canaan Fir, Arizona Cypress(Blue Ice), Leyland Cypress, and many other varieties. Our farm is currently growing Blue Ice, Canaan Firs, Douglas Firs, Con- color Firs, White Pines, Blue Spruce, and Norway Spruce. Before you plant visit with your local farms/mentor's farm. E. Profitability? Section B pro- vided some estimates on potential sales revenues. Profitability will be determined after you subtract costs of production. Some costs include: seed- lings, shearing tools (or equipment), sprayers (backpacks for small opera- tions), weed killer(RoundUp ge- neric), spot pesticides, mowers, labor, and processing equipment (shakers and balers). With small operations of only a few acres very little equipment is needed and probably no outside la- bor. F. Advertising? Some farms adver- tise on the local radio stations and in local papers. Our farm has never paid for print or radio ads. Our farm joined the Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association (VCTGA) which inludes a website and mini web pages for each farm. Our farm also maintains our own web page and Facebook page. we get most of our customers from word- of-mouth and the internet. During the first 6 years of our operation we con- tacted local groups like elementary schools, Boy Scouts, etc and created fliers for them to hand out. When the customers came to the farm and pur- chased a tree with the flier, we do- nated $5 back to the organization. This form of advertising allowed us to help local groups and we only paid for

1/8th of your trees each year. If plant- ing 1,000 trees per acre, you could sell 125 trees per acre. At $60 per tree, that would be $7,500 per year in tree sales per acre. After your initial plant- ing, you should replant any tree that dies or that a customer cuts. This will ensure that you will have a continuous supply for years to come. In order to have a consistent supply of trees each year, Take the total number of acres to be planted on the tree farm and divide by 8. The result is the num- ber of acres you need to plant each year. For example, if you are planning a 16 acre tree farm, divide 16 by 8. So you need to plant 2 acres each year in- itially. Two acres could be from 2,000 to 3,000 seedlings based upon your spacing. If you are using the more dense spacing you would be targeting to sell 3,000 trees each year. You would have the potential of 3,000 * $60 = $180,000 in sales each year. (Note: you will probably have some tree loss so the total available for sale would be less than 3,000). B. Land for non-trees: In addition to acreage for planting trees, you must plan for space for parking, traffic flow, tree processing, Christmas Shop, wreath sales, etc. If you are planning a Choose & Cut to sell 3,000 trees per year you will need to plan for peak days in the neighborhood of 500 trees or more. In a Choose & Cut op- eration many families will arrive at the farm and spend 2, 3, or 4 hours finding the perfect tree and enjoying your farm. Remember, many custom- ers are making a day of selecting their tree. Food and drink sales can supple- ment your income. C. Location? The most successful Choose & Cut farms are located within reasonable driving distance of large population centers. Northern Virginia has millions of potential cus- tomers. The farm also needs good road access. Properties on one lane roads would be a definite no. Signage

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VCTGA News Journal ‒ Winter 2019 VCTGA News Journal – Winter 20