2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2017
Christmas tree prices expected to rise amid shortages
Farmers can’t
keep pace with
market demand
By JONATHAN BACH
Statesman Journal
SALEM — Americans will
pay more for pre-cut Christ-
mas trees this year as short-
ages deepen from the country’s
top two producers, Oregon and
North Carolina.
Joe Territo sells Oregon
trees in San Jose, California.
But he’s becoming increas-
ingly frustrated with rising
costs, from the trees to labor.
Territo says the only fi gure
going down is profi t.
“It seems like every year,
it’s harder and harder,” Territo
said. He expects to sell 6-foot
Noble fi rs for about $75 a piece
this season, up from about $69
last year.
The problem is one of sup-
ply. Christmas tree growers are
coming up short as their 2017
harvest enters its critical period,
with trees being shipped coast-
to-coast and abroad.
Around the time of the
Great Recession, growers had
an oversupply of trees after
planting too many in the early
2000s. Subsequent low prices
forced many farmers out of the
Christmas tree business, leav-
ing other growers to tend to the
market.
But now, with only so many
trees to go around, remain-
Mateusz Perkowski/ EO Media Group
Jason Hupp, whose family owns Hupp Farms near Silverton, examines a Noble fir grown
for boughs in 2016. The Hupp family grows nursery conifer seedlings, Christmas trees,
boughs and timber.
ing farmers can’t keep up with
demand — and they might not
catch up for years. It can take
nine years before some trees
are ready to be cut and sold.
Oregon top harvester
Oregon farms harvest the
most trees in the United States,
exporting them to places like
Asia and California. Trees
from North Carolina are gen-
erally shipped to states east of
the Mississippi River, such as
Florida.
Casey Grogan is a man-
ager at Silver Bells Tree
Farm, a few hundred acres
outside of Salem. He reck-
ons the farm has received 20
times its normal number of
customer inquiries.
“We just have enough to
supply the customers we’ve
been supplying, so we’re not
able to help them,” Grogan
said.
But Grogan is optimistic
for fellow Oregonians who
should be able to fi nd fresh
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
56
43
46
ALMANAC
50
38
Clouds and sun with
showers around; cool
Chilly with rain at times
Last
Salem
42/59
Newport
46/57
Nov 10
Coos Bay
46/59
First
Nov 18
Ontario
31/62
Burns
30/60
Klamath Falls
27/63
Lakeview
26/64
Ashland
39/67
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
5:42 a.m.
6:24 p.m.
Low
0.9 ft.
0.6 ft.
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
59
64
66
59
58
61
70
62
60
64
Today
Lo
29
39
47
38
49
27
38
43
46
46
W
s
s
pc
s
s
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Hi
57
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59
55
63
67
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Wed.
Lo
31
34
47
42
47
30
41
46
46
46
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pc
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s
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pc
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City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
61
62
60
61
62
59
49
59
60
60
Today
Lo
42
46
44
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42
47
35
38
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36
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Hi
55
56
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Wed.
Lo
39
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44
46
34
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46
31
W
sh
c
c
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TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
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sf
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31
87
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69
67
81
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77
55
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62
Wed.
Lo
55
49
45
38
42
43
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19
74
45
48
58
57
62
69
57
66
52
52
50
50
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53
43
54
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
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The Daily Astorian
A man convicted of doz-
ens of sex crimes in Clatsop
County died Monday in a state
prison.
Mark Buckner, 56, was
pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m.
after complaining minutes
earlier to a cell mate at Snake
River Correctional Institution
in Ontario that he wasn’t feel-
ing well.
Prison staff responded to
the cell but were unable to
resuscitate him. Though Ore-
gon State Police investi-
gates all inmate deaths, Buck-
ner apparently died of natural
causes, according to a release
from the state Department of
Corrections.
Following a 2011 trial,
Buckner, of Westport, was
sentenced to 47 years in prison
on 51 counts — including fi ve
counts of fi rst-degree sodomy,
20 counts of fi rst-degree sex-
ual penetration and one count
of fi rst-degree sex abuse. The
charges stemmed from years
of abuse — more than 1,000
incidents in nine years, accord-
ing to prosecutors— against a
girl starting when she was in
k indergarten in the late 1990s.
Mark Buckner
DUII
• At 9:35 p.m. Friday,
Jason Pietrzykowski, 41, of
Anacortes, Washington, was
arrested by the Seaside Police
Department on the 400 block
of S. Roosevelt Drive and
charged with driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants and
reckless driving. His blood
alcohol content was 0.33
percent.
• At 11:45 p.m. Friday,
Jamey Shane Wilson, 45, of
Astoria, was arrested by the
Astoria Police Department on
the 100 block of Klaskanine
Avenue and charged with DUII
and refusing a breath test.
• At 2:09 a.m. Saturday,
Alysha Ann Satiacum, 29, of
Astoria, was arrested by the
Warrenton Police Department
on the 100 block of N. Main
Avenue and charged with
DUII, recklessly endanger-
ing another person and reck-
less driving. She allegedly was
driving at a high rate of speed
prior to her arrest.
• At 1:46 a.m. Sunday,
Tomas Aguilar Vidal, 31, of
Seaside, was arrested by the
Astoria Police Department on
U.S. Highway 101 and E. Har-
bor Street in Warrenton and
charged with DUII and driving
without an operator’s license.
His blood alcohol content was
0.13 percent.
• At 6:12 p.m. Monday,
Loree Lipman Sakai, 64, of
Portland, was arrested by the
Oregon State Police on U.S.
Highway 26 and charged with
DUII and reckless driving. Her
blood alcohol content was 0.13
percent.
Assault
• At 7:03 a.m. Monday,
Brandon L. Harrington, 33, of
Astoria, was arrested by the
Seaside Police Department on
the 1000 block of Avenue I and
charged with fourth-degree
assault. He allegedly head-
butted someone.
FLUHRER, James, 84, of Warrenton,
died in Warrenton. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
WEDNESDAY
Warrenton-Hammond School District Finan-
cial Committee, noon, district offi ces, 820 S.W.
Cedar Ave.
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m., City
APPLIANCE
AND HOME
FURNISHINGS
529 SE MARLIN, WARRENTON
503-861-0929
O VER
Mattresses, Furniture
3 A 0
RS
& More!
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Warrenton Town Hall, 7 p.m., on the library levy
and city parks, City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 698
Pacifi c Way.
LOTTERIES
PACKAGE DEALS
TSOP
C LA U
Y
C O NT
Like Hupp Farms in Ore-
gon, Barr Evergreens in North
Carolina can fulfi ll wholesale
orders for its existing custom-
ers but has to turn away new
ones, said owner Rusty Barr.
Barr expects to raise prices
$2 to $3 for pre-cut Fra-
ser fi r trees at his retail outfi t.
That’s on top of the $60 to $80
they’ve sold for in the past,
depending on size.
North Carolina harvested
an estimated 3.5 million trees
in 2016, according to the
Pacifi c Northwest Christmas
Tree Association. The state
was followed by Michigan (3
million), Pennsylvania (2.3
million) and Washington (1.5
million).
By contrast, Oregon cut
down approximately 5.2 mil-
lion trees.
For Oregon growers, pop-
ular Noble fi rs are especially
lucrative — but they only
grow so fast, often spending
nine years in the ground to
grow to 6 feet in the Pacifi c
Northwest.
“That’s the Cadillac of the
industry,” said Bob Schae-
fer, general manager of Noble
Mountain Tree Farm. The
Salem area wholesaler is mas-
sive, usually harvesting about
half a million trees a year from
the more than 4,000 acres the
company grows on in the Wil-
lamette Valley.
Convicted sex abuser dies in prison
Oct. 30, 2017
ELDER, William Charles, 99, of Astoria,
died in Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortu-
ary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements.
APPLIANCE
YE
Turning away orders
DEATHS
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
IN
Christmas trees to return until
at least 2021 or 2025.
ON THE RECORD
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Hi
70
58
43
52
42
44
72
32
86
44
41
80
70
59
79
58
77
56
52
57
47
58
66
59
61
Baker
29/57
REGIONAL CITIES
Tonight's Sky: Capricornus, the sea-goat, stands
almost due south at nightfall.
Today
Lo
49
41
31
38
30
32
54
23
75
32
31
57
60
47
66
43
62
43
38
40
37
42
51
46
44
La Grande
42/54
Roseburg
43/58
Brookings
47/63
Nov 26
John Day
41/58
Bend
39/58
Medford
38/67
UNDER THE SKY
High
8.5 ft.
Prineville
35/59
Lebanon
40/59
Eugene
38/59
New
Pendleton
46/56
The Dalles
42/60
Portland
44/58
SUN AND MOON
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Periods of rain; breezy in
the afternoon
Tillamook
47/56
Sunset tonight ........................... 6:03 p.m.
Sunrise Wednesday .................... 7:56 a.m.
Moonrise today .......................... 4:42 p.m.
Moonset today ............................ 3:28 a.m.
Time
12:00 p.m.
none
50
37
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
46/56
Precipitation
Monday ............................................ 0.00"
Month to date ................................... 8.93"
Normal month to date ....................... 5.70"
Year to date .................................... 62.14"
Normal year to date ........................ 45.94"
Nov 3
SATURDAY
REGIONAL WEATHER
Astoria through Monday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 63°/38°
Normal high/low ........................... 57°/43°
Record high ............................ 68° in 1949
Record low ............................. 28° in 1935
Full
52
40
Some sun, then clouds
with showers around
Mostly cloudy
FRIDAY
fi r trees. And there are many
u-cut tree farms.
“The people that are really
gonna suffer from this, I
think, are going to be people
in Southern California, Ari-
zona, Texas, places like that,”
he said.
Tim O’Connor, execu-
tive director of the National
Christmas Tree Associa-
tion, denies a shortage, but
acknowledges, “Supply is
tight.”
“Everyone who wants a
tree will be able to get one,”
O’Connor said.
Christmas tree farmers
aren’t so confi dent.
“Right now, there’s a tree
shortage. It’s been coming
down the line for the last eight
or 10 years, or so,” said Jason
Hupp, who helps manage
Hupp Farms near Silver Falls
State Park in Oregon.
“So our biggest challenges
are having enough trees to sup-
ply customers and just getting
phone calls after phone calls
after phone calls of people
desperate for trees that don’t
exist,” he said.
One recent morning, a heli-
copter piloted by Terry Harch-
enko swooped over Hupp
Farms, snatching up bundles
of trees after Raul Sosa, a lone
worker clad in high-visibil-
ity orange, connected them to
a hook on the chopper’s dan-
gling line.
It’s dangerous work — the
hook could swing and strike
Sosa — but worker and pilot
worked gracefully in concert.
“It’s like air ballet. It’s
crazy,” Hupp said beforehand.
The helicopter dropped the
heavy trees in a nearby lot,
where other workers pulled
away ropes holding them
together. Many Hupp Farms
trees will head down south to
California.
Wholesale growers esti-
mate they’re raising prices at
least 10 percent year-over-
year. Growers don’t expect
normal harvest levels for
HOURS OPEN: MON-FRI 8-6 • SATURDAY 9-5 • SUNDAY 10-4
We Service What We Sell
OREGON
Monday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 5-2-7-9
4 p.m.: 4-9-8-5
7 p.m.: 0-6-8-3
10 p.m.: 6-8-6-5
Monday’s Lucky Lines: 02-08-
12-15-19-22-27-29
Estimated jackpot: $29,000
Monday’s Megabucks: 12-26-
27-29-31-46
Estimated jackpot: $1.4 million
WASHINGTON
Monday’s Daily Game: 8-8-6
Monday’s Hit 5: 03-04-19-
22-23
Estimated jackpot: $120,000
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
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