Because it is impossible to compile exact statistics on harvest, acreage, sales and ranking of production by states, all figures are estimates. Oregon harvest numbers provided by Oregon State University Economic Information Office.
Acreages range from as large as more than ten thousand acres to as small as four to five acres.
Here, where the summers are long and sunny and the winters are moist and cold, literally thousands of acres are planted to the species of trees preferred by buyers around the world. Of the estimated 36 million trees to be harvested by American growers for the 1998 Christmas season, more than 11 million will come from the farms and natural stands of the Pacific Northwest growers. Soon after Thanksgiving their trees appear on street corner lots, nurseries, garden supply stores and department stores across the nation as well as foreign countries. Vendors at these outlets represent a wide range of interests. Often they are professionals who market trees every year, but there will also be a goodly sprinkling of Boy Scout troops, service clubs, church groups and on-holiday college students who see Christmas tree retailing as a way to fatten thin bank accounts.