Ahhhh...some more light from the Chicago Tribune...
Christmas tree tax to promote the real thing
Agriculture Department approves 15-cent-per-tree fee on growers to fund industry program
WASHINGTON—
— The Christmas tree ad wars are about to heat up, albeit in a rather jolly way.
Following an extended debate that pit one region against another, the Agriculture Department on Tuesday gave the green light to a new industry-funded Christmas tree promotion program.
By taxing themselves, growers will raise $2 million a year for ads promoting the merits of real, live trees. Or, at least, trees that once were living, as opposed to the artificial kind that have seized an increasing share of the holiday market.
"As demographics and buying habits have changed, we have watched the market for real trees shrink drastically, requiring us to spend much more time and money on promotion," said Don Cameron, past president of the California Christmas Tree Association.
Cameron and his wife, Carolyn, owners of a tree farm in Simi Valley, Calif., were among the 500-plus people to weigh in during the past year as the USDA considered the proposed Christmas Tree Promotion, Research and Information Order.
Akin to similar programs that promote milk, beef and cotton, the Christmas tree program will impose on U.S. domestic producers and importers an initial fee of 15 cents per tree.
A 12-member board will direct the money to generic ads and other promotions, as well as research. The promotions, according to the USDA, will present "a favorable image of Christmas trees to the general public," with the intent of improving the public "perception" of Christmas trees and, hence, their sales.
"We have good reason to believe it will be successful for our industry," Betty Malone, an Oregon tree farmer and president of Christmas Tree Promotion Now, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "We looked at what other industries have done, and how successful they've been."
After three years, growers and importers will vote on whether to continue the program.
Malone said she has been working on the tree promotion program for about 31/2 years. She said the ads and promotions are likely to begin next year, aiming to offset what's become a steady decline in tree sales.
Fresh-tree sales declined from 37 million in 1991 to 31 million in 2007, according to the USDA. Artificial tree sales, meanwhile, nearly doubled, to 17.4 million, from 2003 to 2007.
Nationwide, there are about 12,000 commercial Christmas tree farms, with production particularly heavy in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Of the 565 comments submitted to the USDA, 398 supported the proposal, 147 were opposed, and the remainder fell into other categories.
Some sentiment broke along state lines. Grower organizations in North Carolina and 18 other states and regions supported the new industry program, while growers in Texas and Vermont opposed it.
"If the large wholesale growers want it, fine, but they can pay for it without reaching into the small growers' pockets," said Robert Childress of the Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association. "I feel that marketing for my products is my responsibility, and I choose to rely on my efforts."
